E. coli outbreak: avoid bagged spinach

[ivory]

ETA: oops, I mistakenly put this in News & Politics anyway (meant to put it in chitchat).

This is of course news, but I wanted to put it here first as a warning for folks who may not have heard the news yet.

FDA issues warning about tainted spinach (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060915/ap_on_he_me/tainted_spinach)

One person died and dozens of others were sickened in the eight-state outbreak, linked by Food and Drug Administration officials to bagged spinach.


The FDA warned people not to eat bagged spinach and said washing it wouldn't solve the problem because the bacteria is too tightly attached.




The part I'm confused about is why they don't know what brand(s). You'd think a few of the ill folks could provide the brand they used. Perhaps the FDA doesn't want to be premature in an announcement.

[FEIrider]

This has me a bit concerned to since I eat a lot of bagged spinach! I'm also wondering about some of the bagged salad blends that contain spinach. Do we need to be concerned about those? Hmmmm...

I'll probably avoid bagged salad altogether for awhile.

[ivory]

They are saying at this point that other salad varieties are not affected, but to toss them if you are concerned (obviously). I would definitely avoid a mix that contains spinach though.

[tlew12778]

The CNN article (http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/15/tainted.spinach.ap/index.html) said this:

Officials believes the spinach may have been grown in California, and federal and state health officials were there trying to pinpoint the source of the contamination.

E. coli is commonly present in animal manure.

Brackett said the use of manure as a fertilizer for produce typically consumed raw, such as spinach, is not in keeping with good agricultural practices. "It is something we don't want to see," he told a food policy conference.

Other bagged vegetables, including prepackaged salads, apparently are not affected. In general, however, washing all bagged vegetables is recommended. Thorough cooking kills the bacterium.

"We're telling people if they have bagged produce and they feel like it's a risk, throw it out," Michigan Department of Community Health spokesman T.J. Bucholz said. "If they feel like they have to eat it, wash it first in warm water."

[southhavenjen]

I work in foodservice and our supplier called this morning to tell us to discard all spinach and all spring mix, which is a mix of salad greens that we use. Our rep said any mix that includes spinach is suspect. The recall apparently is being caused by different brands of spinach/salad mixes and is widespread. Spinach and salad mixes containing spinach is being pulled from both the retail and the foodservice channels, which is apparently rare, because they are pretty much separate. What affects one typically doesn't affect the other. I personally would avoid all spinach and all bagged salads at this time, in both restaurants and at home, to be safe.

[jnettie]

Wow, how odd! I've known that you're most at risk for ecoli from raw veggies, since cooking usually kills it in meats, but only when there is mishandling in the preparation. Contamination from fertilizer, though? Weird.

I grew up near corn fields. Every spring, my grade school playground would be filled with the smell of manuer. I never thought about ecoli being spread this way!

[maplekitty]

How soon does one feel the effects of an e coli poisioning? Is it immediate or days later?

[southhavenjen]

[QUOTE=jnettie;974260]Wow, how odd! I've known that you're most at risk for ecoli from raw veggies, since cooking usually kills it in meats, but only when there is mishandling in the preparation. Contamination from fertilizer, though? Weird.
[QUOTE]

It's actually a pretty common way for e. coli to spread. That's why they don't recommend that people drink unpasteurized apple cider, for example. It's because the apples fall on the ground, where the manure has been used as fertilizer. Manure, as with all fecal matter, is a major carrier of e. coli.

[southhavenjen]

How soon does one feel the effects of an e coli poisioning? Is it immediate or days later?

It can show up anywhere from 1-9 days after exposure. The most common timeframe is 3-4 days after exposure.

[jenahdawn]

From what I heard on the radio last night, there are 50 cases, 30 in WI, and the death was a woman in the Milwaukee area, and they listed the states they are worried about, but it was about 2:30 am, so, sorry, I didn't catch that.

[sublime311]

I was seriously bummed that I didn't get to have the crispy spinach with my Orange Chicken at Bamboo Club tonight.

[sublime311]

From what I heard on the radio last night, there are 50 cases, 30 in WI, and the death was a woman in the Milwaukee area, and they listed the states they are worried about, but it was about 2:30 am, so, sorry, I didn't catch that.

This is from the FDA website:

At this time, the investigation is ongoing and states that have reported illnesses to date include: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The affected products were also distributed to Canada and Mexico.

[maplekitty]

Yah I just threw out my bagged spinach - back lable said grown in Californa...I'm not taking any risks. However I'm keeping my organically grown mixed greens from Ontario.

[jnettie]

southhavenjen - hm, you learn something new every day. I don't know why I never connected the two (because I knew ecoli is present in fecal mater), but for some reason it never clicked.

[MsRo]

Hmm. Guess I'll keep a close eye on this. I used some bagged lettuce for tacos tonight. :(

[FoxyBlue]

What truly concerns me is why pull ALL brands of SPINACH, but not pull all greens entirely? If it's merely the manure proximity... well, aren't they all suspect?

And if that's not it, what is it?

[alisong]

What truly concerns me is why pull ALL brands of SPINACH, but not pull all greens entirely? If it's merely the manure proximity... well, aren't they all suspect?

And if that's not it, what is it?From what I've read, there's one particular processing plant in CA that all the tainted spinach has been traced to - unfortunately it's distrubuted to about every imaginable store from there.

A kid was transferred from our local hospital to Children's Hospital today. :(

[jenahdawn]

It's up to 90 cases in 20 states.

I was wrong about the woman who died here, she was from a smaller town (with an M)and died at a hospital in my hometown. She was 78, I believe, kidney failure.

Apparantly the ages ranges of illness are from 7 (or 9) to 90.

Alisong, I hope the kid ends up okay.

[jnettie]

From what I've read, there's one particular processing plant in CA that all the tainted spinach has been traced to - unfortunately it's distrubuted to about every imaginable store from there.

A kid was transferred from our local hospital to Children's Hospital today. :(

Ah, that makes sense. It only takes one farm to contaminate all the spinach once it gets to the plant. But as long as the factory only makes bagged spinach, then that's all that has to be recalled.

[Irish Elf]

My mother has a really bad ear infection. When she heard the report she thought they said bad spinach and was dumbfounded that CNN was telling people to avoid "bad" spinach. Really, just the bad spinach? So the good spinach is ok? :p

[paulinaaa]

Here's the latest:

E. coli strain traced to ranch near spinach fields (http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/12/tainted.spinach.ap/)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- -- The same strain of deadly bacteria that sickened dozens of people nationwide has been found at a cattle ranch in California's Salinas Valley within a mile of spinach fields, investigators said Thursday.

Investigators still can't be sure that the E. coli found in cow manure contaminated the fields, but said the find warrants further investigation.

"We do not have a smoking cow at this point," said Dr. Kevin Reilly, deputy director of the Prevention Services Division of the California Department of Health Services. Nevertheless, Reilly called the match an important finding.