Consumers anywhere in the United States who have store-bought chopped romaine lettuce at home, including salads and salad mixes, should not eat it and should throw it away. Thousands of pounds of the lettuce have been recalled due to E. coli and at least 53 people have gotten sick since mid-March. 31 of them were hospitalized and five of them developed a type of kidney failure that can be life-threatening. No deaths have been reported. Illnesses have been reported in 16 states. The states with the highest number of illnesses are Pennsylvania, Idaho, New Jersey, and Montana.