According to the Wall Street Journal (paywall), the impact of the recent E. coli outbreak in romaine lettuce continues to ripple through the market, causing a 44.5% drop in retail sales of romaine as compared to the previous year and a 27.6% drop in sales of lettuce overall.

Retailers, restaurants, and growers are already facing multiple lawsuits arising out of the lettuce recall, which sickened 172 people in 32 states and which resulted in 1 death and 75 hospitalizations.

Aside from identifying Yuma, Arizona as the growing area that was the source of the tainted lettuce, FDA has not otherwise identified the primary source of the outbreak.  The lack of traceability has led to discussions as to whether blockchain, a digital ledger system developed originally to verify cryptocurrency transactions, could help with foodborne illness outbreak traceability in the future.