The Region : Lettuce Warning Issued

The state Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a consumer alert warning people not to eat possibly contaminated romaine lettuce sold by Safeway supermarkets in Los Angeles, Orange and eight other Southern California counties. Agency officials, on a tip supplied by the U.S Food and Drug Administration, found a sample of lettuce in a Brea store that was contaminated with residues of endosulfan, an insecticide also known as Thiodan. The lettuce had come from one field in Ventura County and was sold between Sept. 22 and 26. Residue levels of 10.9 parts per million were found, officials said. Two parts per million is the maximum safe level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. About 600 cartons, with 24 heads of lettuce per carton, were sent to Safeway stores in Los Angeles, Orange, Indio, Riverside, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino, Mono, Santa Barbara and Kern counties, said Jim Wells, chief of pesticide enforcement for the state department. There were no reports of illness by people eating the suspect lettuce, but Wells said the amount of contamination would not be enough to cause immediate signs of illness unless large quantities were consumed. As a precautionary measure, Safeway Stores has removed the lettuce harvested from the field from its outlets in the 10 counties. Wells said consumers who bought the lettuce at a Safeway store between Sept. 22 and 26 should return it to the same store.