Posted on 09/16/2006 11:01:26 PM PDT by stlnative
U.S. expands warning to cover all fresh spinach
Sep 16, 2006 — By Joel Rothstein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumers should avoid all fresh spinach, regardless of whether it is pre-packaged, a chief U.S. food safety official warned on Saturday, saying the number of E. coli illnesses had passed 100.
"We need to get a clear message to consumers," said Dr. David Acheson, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's director of food safety and security.
"Some consumers may not be aware that spinach that may be available to them may have been pre-packaged," he said referring to loose spinach sold in restaurants and supermarkets.
While the FDA did not expand the warning beyond fresh spinach, Acheson said the investigation into the cause of the illnesses was continuing and other possible sources had not been excluded.
Investigators believe that the spinach was contaminated before it was bagged since more than one bag contained contaminated product, Acheson said on a Saturday evening conference call with reporters.
Since August 2, one person has died and 102 people have fallen ill, including 16 who suffered kidney failure after eating spinach suspected of being contaminated with the E. coli 0157:H7 — a potentially deadly bacterium that causes bloody diarrhea and dehydration.
Wisconsin health authorities said the E. coli fatality was a 77-year-old woman from Manitowoc who died September 7.
The most recent case in the 19-state outbreak was reported on September 9, Acheson said.
On Friday, Natural Selection Foods LLC/Earthbound Farm, the nation's largest grower of organic produce, voluntarily recalled fresh spinach products sold in the United States, Mexico and Canada after the U.S. government said they could be linked to the worsening outbreak.
Patients infected with the bacterial illness told researchers they had eaten pre-packaged spinach packed by Natural Selection, including some sold under the Dole label, prompting the company to start its recall, Acheson said earlier this week.
Acheson was not able to predict when the warnings would be lifted, saying it would "go on as long as it needs to protect public health."
Case Reports To date, 102 cases of illness due to E. coli infection have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including 16 cases of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and one death. Illnesses continue to be reported to CDC. This is considered to be an ongoing investigation
go here to read all of it...
I think growing your own spinach is the best option now!
Popeye's going to be pi$$ed....
I don't see why using a bit of dish washing liquid and then rinsing the lettuce wouldn't mitigate this problem.
That's how Consumer Reports said one should handle all produce some years ago.
I've read that as well.
So called "Organic" stuff can kill you organically. Stay away from it if you know what's good for you.
Me, I want mine sprayed with chemicals and then picked and canned by robots.
If you have an absolute need to eat fresh spinach, rinse the spinach throughly and then soak it in cold water with a few drops of chlorine bleach (More for larger amounts of H2O) for at least two minutes. After this, then rinse throughly to remove the bleach water. However, if you can go without spinach right now, please do so.
Also, DO NOT eat any spinach that was grown organically. The infection may be in the stems of organically grown spinach, which means the method I discussed won't work with them.
See post 10 about organically grown spinach...
I agree. Organic produce has always been known to rot fast.
EColi is absorbed into the plant from the root. Washing in this case won't do a bit of good.
This is the benefit from our liberal "ecologically" minded
elites which claimed our farm goods were poisoning us!
Of course organic farming is the liberals answer to the corporate (evil) farm.
I absolutely agree.
A little more than a century ago, almost all food was what we would call "organic."
People died by the thousands each year from eating rotten food.
Washing it with any type of substance will not kill it fully! It is not on the surface of the raw spinach it is inside the stems and veins of the spinach leafs. The FDA is strongly advising to throw out all raw spinach (except spinach you have safely grown yourself) or cook it at or above 160F degrees.
It is not worth the risk at this time.
There are at 16 people now that have gone into kidney failure (hemolytic uremic syndrome) due to this.
If the spinach is cooked, it still can be eaten?
How about NAFTA neighbors, particularly Mexico. Would they also grow spinach?
Thanks for the news alert.
I always get traveller's diarrhea and fever when I come to Texas, so I carry medication for that; but I don't believe medication is effective for the especially nasty subspecies of E. coli. Definitely won't be eating any spinach.
I did have some broccoli before I got ill....
Stick with canned spinach for now and you'll be fine.
Just handling contaminated spinach makes it risky. You may cook and kill the bacteria on and in the plant, but what about what you get on your hands?
Why Texas? Do you live in the US?
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