The Centre for Food Safety has suspended the import and sale of romaine lettuce from California, which might be contaminated with E. coli.

The centre urged the trade to stop using and selling the product immediately, while the public should not consume romaine lettuce from California and unknown sources.

It said according to the latest information provided by the US Food & Drug Administration, the outbreaks of E. coli infection were likely linked to romaine lettuce harvested in California.

The centre said it has earlier held all romaine lettuce from the US and Canada for testing at the import level, adding it will continue its surveillance of the product from other areas of the US at import and retail levels.

It will closely monitor the incident and has informed US authorities of the import suspension and will alert the trade.