Every parent believes that feeding their child something as simple as lettuce is safe. We didn’t think twice about it. We shouldn’t have to. But for my family – and too many others – that assumption turned into a nightmare that will never fully end.
My child, Colton George, a rambunctious 10-year old, became devastatingly ill after consuming contaminated romaine lettuce linked to a foodborne illness outbreak in November 2024. What followed was not a mild stomach bug or a few days of discomfort. It was a life-threatening medical crisis caused by E. coli, one that changed Colton’s life and our family forever.
Colton was hospitalized for 18 days. For the first three of those days, he was not allowed to eat or drink at all. As his condition worsened, he developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe complication of E. coli infection that attacks red blood cells and can cause kidney failure.
Because of this, Colton endured nine days of hemodialysis and five additional days of intermittent dialysis. He received five blood transfusions just to stay alive.
This is what a foodborne illness can actually look like.
Yet a foodborne illness is often brushed off as a minor inconvenience or even unavoidable. In reality it is deadly serious, profoundly traumatic, and entirely preventable. When contaminated food reaches grocery store shelves, it represents not just a failure of agriculture or distribution, but a failure of accountability.
E.coli outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce are not new. They have happened again and again, with warnings issued only after families are already harmed.
The Food and Drug Administration has the authority — and the responsibility — to protect families from preventable foodborne illness. Stronger oversight, enforceable safety standards, and better traceability in the leafy greens supply chain must no longer be optional. When outbreaks repeat, the response cannot be limited to late warnings and ineffective recalls.
In addition, FDA must be radically transparent about its outbreak investigations by releasing the name of the consumer-facing company that produced the food linked to the outbreak when it has been identified. Its current policy, however, is to limit this disclosure to when there is an on-going recall.
Families impacted by foodborne illness have the right to know the company that was responsible for their child’s illness, whether or not there is a recall. FDA considers the name of a company that sells food to consumers and is tied to an outbreak as “confidential commercial information.” This policy makes no sense; food companies advertise based on their brand names. FDA’s policy deprives consumers of information relevant to public health and shields companies from accountability. Just this week, Stop Foodborne Illness filed a petition with FDA to change its policy and more widely disclose the name of a company linked to an outbreak. I urge the agency to do so.
Colton’s illness didn’t just put him in the hospital. It robbed him of his childhood normalcy and left him with long-term medical consequences that will follow him for the rest of his life. And our family is not alone. Across the country, families have watched their children suffer kidney failure, permanent organ damage, and in some cases death— all from food that is intended to keep them healthy.
What makes this even harder to accept is that the risk is known. The science exists. The solutions exist. What’s missing is urgency.
We rely on regulatory agencies and the food industry to protect consumers. Yet romaine lettuce outbreaks continue and families are left scrambling for answers while companies can hide behind FDA’s lack of transparency.
Justice for Colton George means more than sympathy. It means action.
It means enforceable food safety standards that are actually monitored. It means real-time traceability so contaminated products can be identified and pulled before more children are harmed. It means real consequences for companies that fail to protect the public.
It also means listening to families who have lived through this. Parents don’t advocate because they want attention. They advocate because they don’t want another child hooked up to dialysis machines after eating a salad.
Foodborne illness should never be the cost of doing business. Families should never shoulder lifelong medical, emotional and financial burdens because of preventable contamination.
Colton deserved better. Every family does.
Until meaningful change happens, outbreaks will continue, warnings will come too late, and children will keep paying the price. We can — and must — do better.
Stopping foodborne illness is not a radical demand. It is a moral obligation.
About the author: Chris George is a firefighter and a constituent-advocate with Stop Foodborne Illness, the Voice for Safe Food.
