Posted: October 9th, 2008 - 8:57pm by Doug Powell

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that state agriculture officials say the tainted iceberg lettuce that has been linked to 36 E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Michigan and 3 in Ontario originated in California before being shipped to Michigan.

Aunt Mid’s Produce of Detroit was identified as one of the local suppliers. The company immediately stopped its lettuce distribution, said Philip Riggio, chief executive officer, and had its supply and processing facilities tested by outside experts. The tests found no evidence of contamination.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture also tested Aunt Mid’s lettuce, with no findings of E. coli, but, “we never had product available that was tested from the outbreak timeframe, primarily due to the perishable nature of the product we dealt with,” said Jennifer Holton, MDA spokesperson.

A Michigan State University student sickened by E. coli-tainted lettuce is suing Aunt Mid’s. Samantha Steffen of East Lansing began suffering from bloody diarrhea and was hospitalized with dehydration in mid-September.

“At this point, based on testing…I don’t believe the lawsuit has any merit,” said Riggio.