Throw Away Your Bagged Spinach

[Stephen of Borg 2]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers nationwide should not eat fresh bagged spinach, say health officials probing a multistate outbreak of E. coli that killed at least one person and made dozens of others sick.

 

Food and Drug Administration and state officials don't know the cause of the outbreak, although raw, packaged spinach appears likely. "We're advising people not to eat it," said Dr. David Acheson of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

 

Eight states were reporting a total of 50 cases of E. coli, Acheson said Thursday.

 

The death occurred in Wisconsin, where 20 people were reported ill, 11 of them in Milwaukee. The outbreak has sickened others -- eight of them seriously -- in Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah. In California, state health officials said they were investigating a possible case there.

 

The outbreak has affected a mix of ages, but most of the cases have involved women, Acheson said. Further information on the person who died wasn't available.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Wisconsin health officials alerted the FDA about the outbreak at midweek. Preliminary analysis suggested the same bug is responsible for the outbreak in all eight states.

 

The warning applied to consumers nationwide because of uncertainty over the origin of the tainted spinach and how widely it was distributed. Health officials did not know of any link to a specific growing region, grower, brand or supplier, Acheson said.

 

Amy Philpott, a spokeswoman for the United Fresh Produce Association, said that it's possible the cause of the outbreak won't be known for some time, even after its source is determined.

 

"Our industry is very concerned," she said. "We're taking this very seriously."

 

Reports of infections have been growing by the day, Acheson said. "We may be at the peak, we may not be," he said."

 

E. coli can cause diarrhea, death

E. coli causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, although some people -- including the very young and old -- can develop a form of kidney failure that often leads to death.

 

Anyone who has gotten sick after eating raw packaged spinach should contact a doctor, officials said.

 

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."

 

E. coli lives in the intestines of cattle and other animals and typically is linked to contamination by fecal material. It causes an estimated 73,000 cases of infection, including 61 deaths, each year in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Sources of the bacterium include uncooked produce, raw milk, unpasteurized juice, contaminated water and meat, especially undercooked or raw hamburger, the agency says on its Web site.

 

In December 2005, an E. coli outbreak sickened at least eight children in Washington state. Officials traced the outbreak to unpasteurized milk from a dairy that had been ordered to stop distributing raw milk.

 

Last October, the FDA warned people not to eat certain Dole prepackaged salads that were connected to an outbreak of E. coli infections in Minnesota. At least 11 people were sickened.

 

In 1993, a major E. coli outbreak sickened about 700 people and killed four who ate undercooked Jack in the Box hamburgers in Washington state. That outbreak led to tighter Agriculture Department safety standards for meat and poultry producers

[master_q 0]

And I just bought three bags of it! lol

(Not today, but just before the news came out.)

[Charface 0]

I love spinach. There's been no reported cases in Texas, but I've thrown everything I had out.

 

I can't wait for the end of this ordeal so I can safely eat my spinach again.

[KIMIMELA 1]

I HATE SPINACH WITH PASSION. <_< !!!!!!!

[Yillara Skye 1]

I was sad to see this headline come up a couple days ago. I adore spinach, especially fresh spinach. Either in salads or cooked up.

 

 

Luckily we did not have any bags of it in our house so no worries there.

Edited September 17, 2006 by Yillara_Skye

[Stephen of Borg 2]

109 Now Sick

 

 

SAN FRANCISCO - The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak traced to tainted spinach rose to 109 on Sunday, as federal officials announced more brands recalling their products.

 

 

 

"This is unquestionably a significant outbreak in terms of E. coli," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

 

Meanwhile, the company linked to the outbreak, Natural Selection Foods LLC, announced that its work with federal and state heath inspectors confirmed that the contamination did not come from its organic spinach.

 

Manufacturing codes from packages of spinach that infected patients turned over to health officials all were from non-organic spinach, the company said in a statement late Sunday. Natural Selection packages both organic and conventionally grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan Bautista plant.

 

The outbreak has prompted Natural Selection, the world's largest producer of organic produce, to recall 34 brands. They include the company's own labels and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection to produce or package its spinach.

 

On Sunday, River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, Calif., added to its recall spring mixes containing spinach that were sold under the labels Hy-Vee, Fresh N' Easy, and Farmers Market, FDA officials said. All contain spinach purchased from Natural Selection, they said.

 

The recalls came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intervened to help in investigate the outbreak, which has killed a 77-year-old Wisconsin woman, officials said.

 

In Ohio, state health officials said they were investigating the death of a 23-month-old girl who was sickened by E. coli to determine whether the case was related to the outbreak. The girl's mother said she often buys bagged spinach.

 

CDC officials said Sunday they've started an Atlanta-based emergency operations center to help state health agencies with E. coli testing. Epidemiologists are helping test spinach samples and stool samples of infected people, center spokeswoman Lola Russell said.

 

The center is helping when state health agencies can't perform the tests or when a second opinion is needed, Russell said.

 

E. coli cases linked to tainted spinach have been reported in 19 states, with Wisconsin reporting the most.

 

Other states reporting cases were California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, according to the CDC. The seven new cases reported Sunday were in states with previous illnesses, Acheson said.

 

The Food and Drug Administration continued to warn consumers not to eat fresh spinach or products containing fresh spinach until further notice.

 

The investigation by the FDA and the California Department of Health Services will widen Monday with the aim of tracing the spinach to individual farms, Acheson said.

 

The inquiry will review irrigation methods, harvest conditions and other practices at farms possibly involved.

 

The spinach could have been contaminated in the field or during processing. About 74 percent of the fresh market spinach grown in the U.S. comes from California, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.

 

There is no indication that the outbreak was deliberate, Acheson said. It was unclear when it would be safe for consumers to start buying fresh spinach, he added.

 

Natural Selection recalled its packaged spinach throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico as a precaution after federal health officials said some of those hospitalized reported eating brands of prepackaged spinach distributed by the company.

 

However, some restaurants and retailers may be taking spinach out of bags before selling it, so consumers shouldn't buy it at all, the FDA said.

 

Boiling contaminated spinach can kill the bacteria, but washing won't eliminate it, the CDC warned.

 

Federal officials stressed that the bacteria had not been isolated in products sold by Natural Selection, best known for the Earthbound Farm brand. As the investigation continues, other brands may be implicated, officials said.

 

The company was founded in 1984 by Drew and Myra Goodman. Within two years, Earthbound Farm began shipping pre-washed, packaged salad fixings, and the company's "spring mix" became a mainstay of restaurants and supermarkets.

[Kor37 9]

Gee......I really hope that Popeye is ok..............

[Odie 0]

Gee......I really hope that Popeye is ok..............

He eats caned spinach, not fresh. He is fine. <_<