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.
Thanks for posting that. I was wondering about using a bleach/water mixture. [I don't eat raw spinach, but I was wondering.]
This is the kind of warning Americans used to hear when they travelled abroad.
"Don't drink the water or eat fresh vegetables"
We are really turning into a 3rd world country.
I always say that I'm pretty sure that I'm immune to e-coli. I've worked at a cattle auction for 30 yrs and been exposed.
Washing with a mixture of water and bleach would necessitate that some of the bleach would remain on the food. Bleach is not recommended in the basic food groups.
Cooking spinach will also detract from the reason people buy raw spinach to eat in the first place, for its vitamins and raw vegetable properties.
The theory that the bacteria is growing inside the plant system seems to run counter to the nature of the host site pattern for the bacterium itself; can it even thrive there if intentionally "seeded?"