FDA Issues Nationwide Bagged Spinach Warning

[Cylinder]

FDA Warning on Serious Foodborne E.coli O157:H7 Outbreak (http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01450.html)


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing an alert to consumers about an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in multiple states that may be associated with the consumption of produce. To date, preliminary epidemiological evidence suggests that bagged fresh spinach may be a possible cause of this outbreak.

Based on the current information, FDA advises that consumers not eat bagged fresh spinach at this time. Individuals who believe they may have experienced symptoms of illness after consuming bagged spinach are urged to contact their health care provider.

“Given the severity of this illness and the seriousness of the outbreak, FDA believes that a warning to consumers is needed. We are working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local agencies to determine the cause and scope of the problem,” said Dr. Robert Brackett, Director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

E. coli O157:H7 causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death. To date, 50 cases of illness have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 8 cases of HUS and one death.

At this time, the investigation is ongoing and states that have reported illnesses to date include: Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin.

FDA will keep consumers informed of the investigation as more information becomes available.

[Kebsis]

Man...figures! Yesterday I ate cream of spinach soup from a deli, the first time I ate spinach anything in like ten years too.

[sarongsong]

Spreading...September 15, 2006
...By Friday, the outbreak had grown to include at least 20 states: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention... Breitbart (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/15/D8K5IKUG0.html)

[Lurker]

Its a consipracy!!! :eh:

[soylentgreen]

Man...figures! Yesterday I ate cream of spinach soup from a deli, the first time I ate spinach anything in like ten years too.

I gotta say...last weekend I told my wife to pick up a pack of spinach, as everyone kept insisting I wasn't getting enough 'leafy greens' in my diet. First time I was having spinach again in years, as well.

Figures, indeed!. :rolleyes:

[Maksutov]

Popeye had the right idea.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/268/popeyeandcannedspinachnq4.th.jpg (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=popeyeandcannedspinachnq4.jpg)

He only ate canned spinach.

[Gillianren]

Ha! I won't eat it at all! (And it's only fresh bagged, right? So don't buy bagged, buy unbagged.)

[sarongsong]

Espinaca enchiladas---yumm!
One company (http://dole.com/CompanyInfo/Statement/index.jsp)'s response:September 15, 2006
...Consumers should dispose of any...packaged fresh spinach products stamped with a Best-If-Used-By date of August 17 through October 1, 2006 as a precautionary measure...

[Maksutov]

Ha! I won't eat it at all! (And it's only fresh bagged, right? So don't buy bagged, buy unbagged.)Actually, Popeye's is a semi-subliminal message provided by the Associated Yam Growers of USA, LLC. http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/566/iconwink6tn.gif

[Jeff Root]

I think it's ridiculous that 50% of (commercially-packaged?)
spinach in the USA is grown in just one county. For part of
the year, at least, it should be possible to grow it all over.

Why doesn't rinsing rinse off the E. coli? Do they stick to
the leaves? Or does the advice just acknowledge the reality
that many or most people wouldn't do a good enough job of
rinsing, and doing it right really does work?

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Maksutov]

I think it's ridiculous that 50% of (commercially-packaged?)
spinach in the USA is grown in just one county. For part of
the year, at least, it should be possible to grow it all over.

Why doesn't rinsing rinse off the E. coli? Do they stick to
the leaves? Or does the advice just acknowledge the reality
that many or most people wouldn't do a good enough job of
rinsing, and doing it right really does work?

-- Jeff, in MinneapolisIt would seem you could just boil or steam the spinach so that it reaches a temperature of 160 degrees F or greater. For meats this is the temperature at which E. coli is killed.

Here's a statement from Dole. (http://dole.com/CompanyInfo/Statement/index.jsp)

BTW, while in the hospital during February and March I had an E. coli infection. It's no picnic, but I survived, mainly due to a drug which was $29 a pill.

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/muede/s025.gif

[Jeff Root]

A week ago in the local paper was an article which told me that
the illness I had a year and a half ago was not an isolated incident.
Apparently the frozen chicken-in-pastry thing I had was not
precooked, and I didn't realize it. Heating it in the microwave
didn't happen to get it hot enough to kill the salmonella bacteria
which happened to be in it. The immediate effects were not
horrible. I've felt worse from flu and appendicitis. The salmonella
caused a 20-hour diarriha stint, but that was about it... until
about two days later, when my whole abdomen felt like it had
been replaced by one from someone thirty years older. (Goofy
way to describe the sensation, but I can't think of a better way.)
The feeling went away gradually, but after a couple of weeks
there was very little additional improvement. After a month I
went to a hospital and got a mess of X-rays shot through me
resulting in some pretty cool images of everything between my
heart and my really important anatomical parts. But no
diagnosis. They couldn't find any particular problem. They
could have done a test for salmonella, apparently, although I
don't know whether the bugs would still be hanging around
after a month. I still don't feel much improved over the way
I felt when I went to the hospital.

Since my case was probably not reported to the MN Dept.
of Health as a salmonella case, I called the Dept. myself,
after reading the article and discovering what I had.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Maksutov]

[edit]After a month I
went to a hospital and got a mess of X-rays shot through me
resulting in some pretty cool images of everything between my
heart and my really important anatomical parts.....Always thought they tried not to x-ray those areas. Dentists will even use lead aprons. Then again if you're not going to be fathering anymore kids I guess there's no harm. One would hope.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/566/iconwink6tn.gif

[Jeff Root]

"Between" X and Y does not "include" X and Y.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Maksutov]

"Between" X and Y does not "include" X and Y.

-- Jeff, in MinneapolisBut infinitely close to X and Y, you know, like X=1, and the x-ray limit is at 0.999.... Nevertheless, good, mathematically AND anatomically! I trust their aim was true... http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/566/iconwink6tn.gif

[BigDon]

My question is how the heck did the spinach get contaminated with fresh cow poop? (Which is where that strain comes from) Anybody? That's the other thing to consider when somebody says, "Just cook it to 160F." I don't even want to eat cooked cow poop.

[Swift]

My question is how the heck did the spinach get contaminated with fresh cow poop? (Which is where that strain comes from) Anybody? That's the other thing to consider when somebody says, "Just cook it to 160F." I don't even want to eat cooked cow poop.
Fertilizer?

[BigDon]

Most large scale farms use amonium nitrate.

[Jeff Root]

I went across Nebraska in late May once, nonstop. I tried to
hold my breath the whole distance. Couldn't quite manage it,
but luckily I didn't get sick. Urkk. I'm never gonna do that
again! What a stinky state!

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[Maksutov]

A week ago in the local paper was an article which told me that
the illness I had a year and a half ago was not an isolated incident.[edit]-- Jeff, in MinneapolisI'd advise you to stick with carrots, radishes, turnips, and other Root vegetables.

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/tiere/c020.gif

[Lurker]

Espinaca enchiladas---yumm!
One company (http://dole.com/CompanyInfo/Statement/index.jsp)'s response:

September 15, 2006
...Consumers should dispose of any...packaged fresh spinach products stamped with a Best-If-Used-By date of August 17 through October 1, 2006 as a precautionary measure...


Gosh... now there's a radical thought... take some responsibility for what you consume... :)

[Trebuchet]

It has occurred to me that this is natural selection weeding out those foolish enought to eat raw spinach! Yech! (Cooked, of course, is much worse.)

[Maksutov]

Groucho Marx:

Here I am talking to parties. I came here for a party. What happens? Nothing. Not even ice cream. The gods look down and laugh. This would be a better world for children if the parents had to eat the spinach.from Animal Crackers.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4590/naughtynr7.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[Doodler]

It has occurred to me that this is natural selection weeding out those foolish enought to eat raw spinach! Yech! (Cooked, of course, is much worse.)

Cooked isn't bad. Canned is an abomination.

[Peter Wilson]

I'd advise you to stick with carrots, radishes, turnips, and other Root vegetables.

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/tiere/c020.gif
That way, if you get sick, you know what the root cause is :D

What tickled me about the story is that one grower produces the spinach for something like 29 name-brands! That's more than the number of dimensions in string-theory. So much for "brand loyalty"...they all come from the same place!

Here's my question: Have half-eaten bag of spinach. Hasn't make me sick, so far. Finnish, toss or boil?

[Swift]

That way, if you get sick, you know what the root cause is :D

What tickled me about the story is that one grower produces the spinach for something like 29 name-brands! That's more than the number of dimensions in string-theory. So much for "brand loyalty"...they all come from the same place!

Here's my question: Have half-eaten bag of spinach. Hasn't make me sick, so far. Finnish, toss or boil?
Toss or boil. I would not assume that the contamination is uniform across a bag, so might have not eaten the bad leaf yet. As I understand it, the FDA is now warning about all fresh spinach, not just the bagged.

[BigDon]

Peter, remember what I said about cow poop? Boil it if you really want to but sterile sewage is still sewage.

[Jim]

The E Coli can take up residence inside the leaves, so washing won't help.

The contamination can (and in this case seems to have) come from water used for crop irrigation or cleaning at the packaging plant (runoff into the water supply).

And if you really believe there isn't a substantial "cow poop" and other unmentionable representation in your diet, you are deluding yourself.

[BigDon]

Yeah, but I like to avoid the ones that I can see coming Jim. :D

[Maksutov]

The E Coli can take up residence inside the leaves, so washing won't help.

The contamination can (and in this case seems to have) come from water used for crop irrigation or cleaning at the packaging plant (runoff into the water supply).

And if you really believe there isn't a substantial "cow poop" and other unmentionable representation in your diet, you are deluding yourself.Not only cow poop, matey, but a bunch of other stuff.

A perusal of the FDA's The Food Defect Action Levels booklet (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/dalbook.html) should open a few eyes. It's impossible of course for mass-produced food susbstances to be completely free of contaminants, but I'd interested in seeing the medical basis for the limits that are set.

An excerpt:

MACARONI AND NOODLE PRODUCTS
Insect filth (AOAC 969.41) Average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples
Rodent filth (AOAC 969.41) Average of 4.5 rodent hairs or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples

Arrgghh! :think:

[Cylinder]

California farmers plow spinach fields under (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14911423/)

SALINAS, Calif. - Farmers in the self-proclaimed “Salad Bowl to the World” started plowing their spinach crops under and laying off workers as government inspectors examined fields and packing houses Tuesday for the source of the deadly E. coli outbreak.

After poring over water quality reports, worker hygiene tests and other food safety measures, the inspectors were unable to pinpoint immediately how the bacteria made it into locally grown bagged spinach, causing one death and sickening more than 100 other people across the country.

Kids should not get too exited though, they are plowing the feilds to make way for brocolli and cauliflower.

[Maksutov]

Word has it David Blaine's next stunt will be to remain underwater for 40 days at the Brooklyn Aquarium while subsisting only on bagged spinach, which suddenly has become a bargain and can be purchased for next to nothing.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/566/iconwink6tn.gif

Meanwhile on tonight's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart reported that the FDA is advising people to "toss their salads."

[sarongsong]

...What tickled me about the story is that one grower produces the spinach for something like 29 name-brands!...Finish, toss or boil?Freeze.
Complete list (http://www.kusi.com/news/local/3948491.html) of recalls, so far. Local TV news now speculating whether this is a super-strain of E. coli.

[sarongsong]

...if you really believe there isn't a substantial "cow poop" and other unmentionable representation in your diet, you are deluding yourself.A closer look:September 26, 2006
The Truth Behind the Spinach Scare: Cheap Beef
By Christopher Wanjek, LiveScience’s Bad Medicine Column (http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060926_bad_ecoli.html)ist

[Maksutov]

A closer look:You know, you and he are right!

If everyone had been ingesting colloidal silver, there would have been no problem!

Today silver*, tomorrow, mercury*!

:whistle:












*The effects of colloidal silver and mercury are negligible when you're dead. Now, let's talk about formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol, and other solvents.

[Maha Vailo]

Supporting local farming sounds like a good idea on paper, but is it economically or ecologically feasible to "local-farm" on a nation-wide scale?

There's also the problem of climate and terrain. Buying local produce is great idea if you live in Florida or Croatia or Georgia (either one), but if you live in Alaska or Arizona, you're butt out of luck.

Third, what exactly defines "local"? A county? A state/province? A region? If you live in a small country, would all domestically grown produce be considered "locally grown"?

Fourth, even if we did focus more on locally grown stuff, there would still be a demand for things that couldn't be grown in one's region, such as tropical fruits. What does one do about that?

- Maha "no thanks, I'll grow my own" Vailo

[Jim]

I used to "grow my own." We had a small vegetable garden plot off to the side of the house and grew lettuce, beans, okra, tomatoes... lots of stuff. Did pretty well, too.

Then one day I noticed the garden was "leaning" at one corner. In the course of a couple of days, a sink hole appeared and swallowed up about 1/4 of my garden. The city crew took out the rest replacing the broken sewer line.

That could explain why I didn't have to use much fertilizer.

[Jim]

Oh, btw, the FDA has now cleared some bagged spinach for sale.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/health/4220435.html

[BigDon]

A closer look:

I followed the link to that Bad Medicine dweeb, Sarongsong, and I'm not slamming you, just the author of the article.

Here's a good quote.

Neither will happen soon, however, because it infringes on the American pursuit of cheap, crappy food.

and

At work are the perverse forces of economic markets, not the forces of nature. The U.S. food production system has been fined-tuned to maximize profits for a small group of farmers, often corporations, holding vast acres of land.

And here's another.

Look for Band-Aid solutions touted in the weeks to come, such as irradiation, with its cute, deceptive nickname of cold pasteurization. Irradiation entails zapping food with gamma rays, X-rays or electrons to deactivate harmful bacteria along with other stuff helpful in the food, like vitamins.

But with the unnatural process of irradiation, we can continue the unnatural but cheap practice of feeding cows corn, which they can't digest, so we can continue the unnatural process of consuming lots and lots of this modern invention called the cow.

And my response? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_cringe

Has this person ever been to a country where people starve to death out in the open? Out on the street? What a self-righteous little....

[Gillianren]

Which is irritating, given how good the book is. Heck, I seem to recall him coming out in favor of irradiation for things in it.

[Van Rijn]

Ignoring his rant, I'm not at all convinced his suggestions would make food any safer, though obviously there are ways to make food safer - at additional cost. Too bad we don't have infinite resources, isn't it?

And I do wish irradiation was used more. It isn't a cureall, but it is useful. Unfortunately, you get the "RADIATION! NO!" reaction.

[Maksutov]

Ignoring his rant, I'm not at all convinced his suggestions would make food any safer, though obviously there are ways to make food safer - at additional cost. Too bad we don't have infinite resources, isn't it?

And I do wish irradiation was used more. It isn't a cureall, but it is useful. Unfortunately, you get the "RADIATION! NO!" reaction.Hey, eat your fruits and vegetables and get a healthy glow!

http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/nahrung/e015.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/nahrung/n050.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/nahrung/k035.gif

[sarongsong]

...I'm not slamming you, just the author of the article...Thanks---yes, I noted his editorializing slant, but, having seen dairies with cows corraled in seemingly wall-to-wall excrement, think he may be on to something. Plus, I just liked the name of his column!

[Maha Vailo]

My argument still stands. If we ended the practice of factory farming, would we be able to generate enough meat to keep our population healthy?

- Maha Vailo

[Doodler]

*The effects of colloidal silver and mercury are negligible when you're dead. Now, let's talk about formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol, and other solvents.

Ugh, lets not go there. Just read an article about three women who forced a teenage girl to drink turpentine in an attempt to trigger an abortion.

You don't even want me getting started there...

[sarongsong]

Closing in...October 12, 2006
Spinach-borne E. coli [O157:H7]...had the same DNA signature as that found in fecal matter on a ranch growing both greens and beef cattle...further indication the outbreak was the result of contamination from cattle... Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akTYXLu2SpqU&refer=us)

[01101001]

Closing in...

Further investigation will be needed to determine how common the strain is in the area's wildlife and how fecal matter could have gotten into spinach from its source in a pasture between a half-mile and a mile away.

Local reporter showed some video.

This is the cow pasture. This is the spinach field. And this... this is the narrow two-lane road that separates them.

So, now it's a joke: Why did the E. coli cross the road?

[01101001]

Monterey Herald: Wild pigs may have spread lethal E. coli (http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/15861992.htm)
Holes the size of boars found in fences of ranch

Wild pigs may have rammed through a farm fence and spread deadly bacteria onto a California spinach field, sparking an outbreak that killed three people and sickened more than 200 others, investigators said Thursday.

Samples from a wild boar, a creek and cattle found on a Central Coast ranch match the E. coli strain that tainted spinach at the center of the outbreak, they said.

[Larry Jacks]

E. coli can be very serious, especially to the very young and very old. I good friend's 16 month old grandson was diagnosed with an e. coli infection just last week. He's very sick. It isn't related to the spinach but they don't know how he was infected.

[Frantic Freddie]

Wild boars are becoming a problem in several states, there's so many in Texas that farmers & ranchers are begging for hunters to come & kill them.

[01101001]

E. coli can be very serious, especially to the very young and very old. I good friend's 16 month old grandson was diagnosed with an e. coli infection just last week. He's very sick. It isn't related to the spinach but they don't know how he was infected.

I never quite got what made the spinach recall so newsworthy.

Foodborne E. coli (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/ecoli.htm)

Outbreaks of foodborne disease caused by E. coli (Escherichia coli) bacteria have become a serious problem in this country. E. coli O157:H7 (one type of the bacteria) has caused illness and major disease outbreaks in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 73,000 cases of infection with E. coli O157:H7 and 61 deaths occur in this country each year.

[01101001]

I never quite got what made the spinach recall so newsworthy.

It's late summer, and time for this year's bagged spinach recall.

CBC News: Spinach recalled for salmonella contamination (http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/08/29/spinach-recall.html)

The recall of Metz Fresh produce affects over 8,000 cases of spinach, though a company official said 90 per cent of those cases had not yet been released into the marketplace.
[...]
No associated illnesses have been reported, the company said.

In 2006, an E. coli outbreak linked to bagged spinach prompted an extensive recall in Canada and the United States.

Grower: Metz Fresh: Spinach like nowhere else(TM) (http://www.spinnychips.com/metzfresh/) (site may be busy)

[Paracelsus]

Am partial to arugula, myself. I've always thought that ground beef was a much tastier was to get one's daily RDA of E. coli O157 than raw spinach. ;)

[01101001]

AP: [United States] FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
(http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iA5hZT7HxWkBxoW1U2IS-nAOoq-wD92MTVS00)

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday will issue a regulation allowing spinach and lettuce sellers to take that extra step, a long-awaited move amid increasing outbreaks from raw produce.

It doesn't excuse dirty produce, warned Dr. Laura Tarantino, FDA's chief of food additive safety. Farms and processors still must follow standard rules to keep the greens as clean as possible — and consumers, too, should wash the leaves before eating.

"What this does is give producers and processors one more tool in the toolbox to make these commodities safer and protect public health," Tarantino said.



About time.

[sarongsong]

Hmmh...can't seem to find a picture of Ms. Tarantino...