Tainted Spinach Traced to California (Organic Food Grower--Earthbound Farm)

AP ^ | 9/16/2006 | Andrew Bridges

[Aussiebabe]

Be careful, organic food is not automatically safer --the use of untreated cow manure in the industry is good source of E. coli which can cause this type of problem.

[martin_fierro]

Wasn't us.

[goldfinch]

We eat a lot of Earthbound Farms spinach in the winter. In the summer, I either grow my own or buy spinach grown locally...so, lucky me, I missed out on this.

[Uncle Miltie]

This is not possible because Organic is better. We've been told by "them."

[dandelion]

Very bad news for any who love fresh raw greens - and for those trying to raise their own produce as well. I have a horse, a cow and chickens. I compost their waste for at least thirty days in a black plastic can in direct sun to "cook" it and raise the temp to levels that SHOULD render it harmless, then I put it in a regular compost pile for months before using it.

But this kind of tragic news makes me uncomfortable. I'm trying to use good sanitary practice, and I wonder if there's a way to KNOW when the manure is completely composted...

Sadly, this might end up with the government telling "backyard gardeners" that they can't use manure for fertilizer - and that makes me even more uncomfortable.

[kingattax]

Sadly, this might end up with the government telling "backyard gardeners" that they can't use manure for fertilizer ....

then the backyard gardeners need to tell the government that it's use of "manure" will be restricted as well.

[Nitro]

broccoli rules

[ChiMark]

Organic food is never safer! This should be more typical
of rotting organic produce.
Orion Samuelson says so and I'll believe him over
any anti-synthetic herbicide quack.
You got your proof!

[stlnative]

that will never happen - people just need to educate themselves about using manure in their own backyard gardens.

Looking this up on internet is easy...

Composting livestock manure
http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/manure/manure0.htm

[Aussiebabe]

I don't think any government could care about the backyard gardeners. If you mess up, you will only make a few people ill. The problem is with these big organic producers that distribute nationally, where they can cause mass problems if the manure is not treated properly before use.

Actually, a bigger problem is uncooked bean sprouts. These have been the number one cause of food poisoning from vegetables. The way bean sprouts are grown uses a perfect process for growing bacteria which cause food poisoning. If you go the the FDA website you will find many warnings from the FDA about bean sprout food poisoning.

[sockmonkey]

Now you know food fertilized with poop is better than food that has been grown with that nasty old liquid miracle gro stuff..

[stlnative]

cross reference...


E. Coli Outbreak Update - Partial List of Spinach Brand Names Recalled
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1702460/posts

[Victoria_R]

For the organic crowd: cinnamon.

http://www.ift.org/cms/?pid=1000572

[Aussiebabe]

I beg you not to count on cinnamon to kill E. coli in this type of breakout. This is almost an irresponsible suggestion.

[staytrue]

So, is there any way this can be blamed on Illegal aliens.

Single issue conservatives want to know.

[Dallas59]

I'll stick to cans...

[MediaMole]

In the meantime, Popeye the Sailor Man and this family will not be eating bagged spinach," said Dr. William Schaffner

Everyone knows Popeye eats canned spinach.

Doctors should also learn to avoid lame humor.

[DemforBush]

The fact that washing produce doesn't help when e-coli is involved is pretty scary news. Yikes!

[DemforBush]

Yeah, I thought the joke was lame, and maybe a little inappropriate, given that at least one person has died from this mess.

[stlnative]

There is alot of this happening on the spinach E.Coli threads, some are even suggesting that people wash the spinach in a bleach/water mixture to kill the e.coli and that it should be safe to eat raw after this is done.

The problem is the FDA is starting to think that the E.Coli has actually enter into the inside of the plant through the roots or that it has entered through the cut end of the stems and traveled up through the leaf veins during the washing process.

Cooking raw spinach at 160F degrees will kill the e.coli

Here is good article about how e.coli could be getting into leafy greens.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536902/

Here is a small snippet... (this is only one possibility)

Scientists believe E.coli bacteria might have been absorbed by the lettuce plant’s root system. If that happens, washing the lettuce won’t do any good—the E.coli is already growing inside.