Tainted spinach traced to California

[951-Riverside]

WASHINGTON - A California natural foods company was linked Friday to a nationwide E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others. Supermarkets across the country pulled spinach from shelves, and consumers tossed out the leafy green.

Food and Drug Administration officials said that they had received reports of illness in 19 states.

The outbreak was traced to Natural Selection Foods, based in San Juan Bautista, Calif., and the company has voluntarily recalled products containing spinach.

FDA officials stressed that the bacteria had not been isolated in products sold by Natural Selection Foods but that the link was established by patient accounts of what they had eaten before becoming ill.

An investigation was continuing.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/politics/15530448.htm

[951-Riverside]

1. Statement from the Company:

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, CALIF.; September 15, 2006: We are aware that there are
reports of some illnesses in several states and one death, possibly related to e coli in
spinach. Along with others in the produce industry, we are currently working with federal
and state authorities to assist them in their investigation to identify the source of the
bacteria, providing them unfettered access to our facilities and product for testing and
investigation. We will do whatever is necessary to help protect the health and safety of
the public.

In view of this situation, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently
recommending that consumers not eat bagged fresh spinach. As a result, we have
temporarily stopped shipping spinach products, and have taken spinach out of our salads
that contain them. Any consumers that have Earthbound Farm brand packaged spinach in
their homes who choose to follow the FDA’s recommendations at this time may contact
us at 800-690-3200 for a refund or replacement coupons.

http://www.ebfarm.com/press/foodsafe/
http://www.nsfoods.com/

[partylessinOhio]

2. I have bought EarthBound vegetables at Trader Joes.

I was always pleased with the product freshness. I hope this won't put them out of business.

[AlCzervik]

3. i also buy a lot of earthbound farms produce especially the baby spinach

and i feed my daughter's guinea pig the spring mix blend lettuce, i'll continue to buy from them but i'll wait awhile on spinach.

[gkdmaths]

4. you feed guinea pig to

your daughters?

cool :eyes:

oh, nevermind. :7

[Shakespeare]

54. Hey, it's a delicacy in Peru. n/t

[Truthiness Inspector]

7. Me too

I love Earthbound Farms. I was thinking last night how I mostly eat fresh veggies, and how between the green onions last year and the spinach now....time to grow a garden.

[liberalmike27]

51. My God

What would Popeye think, he must be rolling over in his grave?

I never trusted those bagged products anyway, and besides, they are so much more expensive. Even if I did get it, I'd wash the hell out of it before I used it. If you've ever worked with people who handle food, gone to the bathroom with guys that rarely from my observation wash their hands (yes, I do), or observed how crappy some workers are about things that can affect the safety of food, well, you'd wash everything before you use it. I usually wash shirts I buy too, I like to peel foods. Why eat all that insecticide. I'm a bit obsessive, but that's okay. A lifetime of food can make trace elements that are unhealthy, quite a hazard to a body.

[Buzz Clik]

5. It will be interesting to see what caused this...

Organic foods use no inorganic fertilizers (nitrates, etc) and often rely on manures. That could be it, or, really, it could have come in after harvest.

We'll see...

[Tellurian]

6. Or someone attempting to put them out of business

They're products are quite popular at our local grocery. I just purchased their baby carrots yesterday and in the past have used their baby spinach instead of lettuce for home made deli sandwiches. The shelf life of their products is phenomenal, which to me, is a great indication of freshness.

[Cassandra]

10. I like their baby carrots, too.

I hope this turns out ok for them.

[BrklynLiberal]

55. They did it to Tucker..why not corporate Sabotage on Earthbound?

:tinfoilhat:

[kestrel91316]

11. They are barred from using fresh manure. They are permitted to use

composted manure.

Fresh manure is a potential threat, whereas properly composted manure contains NO pathogens.

I buy their stuff often, and have never had a problem. I wonder if they are getting too big and corporate for their britches, and some bright Harvard MBA okayed cheating to save money...............

[formercia]

57. Fresh maure tea.

We'll just strain it throgh these cheescloth bags. What you can't see won't hurt you.

The only organic produce I eat is what I grow myself. No shit goes on my veggies. Shit is shit.

Actually, I cheat. I put soluble fertilizer on my compost pile.

[ConcernedCanuk]

8. I would be checking the manufacturer of the BAGS!

.
.
.

I know there is a difference in plastics, as certain types of PVC plastic piping has to have a specific classification for "potable" water -

Ya can't use they same piping that would be suitable for a drain or a sewer - the plastic can transfer toxins to the water.

So if the bag manufacturer is using inferior material, or unsanitary conditions where they make the bags - -

Get it?

We KNOW that the GM crowd would love to discredit the natural "green" growing trend . .

But they wouldn't go that far,

Would they?

[hvn_nbr_2]

12. I've been wondering about bags too.

Why is it only bagged spinach that has the problem. If it was the spinach itself or how it's handled in the fields (i.e., all the talk about cows and manure and field hands), it seems like it would show up in spinach that's not in bags. I really wouldn't expect e.coli in a bag manufacturing plant, but I gotta wonder.

[LiberalHeart]

19. It's not just bags. The clamshell packages are included now, too.

[Truthiness Inspector]

9. I just saw an update

while channel-surfing. It's up to 94 sick people in 19 states, if I remember the numbers correctly.

Sadly, the numbers will probably only go up.

[LiberalHeart]

13. Source of E. coli Outbreak Identified (brand names listed)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A California natural foods company was linked Friday to a nationwide E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others. Supermarkets across the country pulled spinach from shelves, and consumers tossed out the leafy green.

Food and Drug Administration officials said that they had received reports of illness in 19 states, including Ohio. Twenty-nine people have been hospitalized, 14 of them with kidney failure.

The outbreak was traced to Natural Selection Foods, a holding company based in San Juan Bautista, California, known for Earthbound Farm and other brands. The company has voluntarily recalled products containing spinach.

(snip)

Natural Selection Foods LLC said in a statement that it was cooperating with federal and state health officials to identify the source of the contamination and had stopped shipping all fresh spinach products. They are sold under many brand names, including Earthbound Farm, Dole, Green Harvest, Natural Selection Foods, Rave Spinach, Ready Pac and Trader Joe's.

(note: officials say the recall may expand to other brands and companies.)

http://wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=5415420

(Note to moderator: this is not a dupe of earlier stories that simply announced the outbreak; this identifies the suspected source and the brands they sell; also says the concern extends to package salads.)

[aquaman]

14. Well shit....

No pun intended......

[LiberalHeart]

15. I feel the same way. My favorite brand is listed.

This whole mess is making me think twice about my habit of eating raw veggies.

[KeepItReal]

16. Damn! Dole, Ready Pack and Trader Joe's?? They hit tha Tri-Fecta!

Where's a brotha gonna get his salad now??

[LiberalHeart]

17. Earthbound Farm is the one that broke my heart. Great products.

[Trajan]

18. Earthbound .....

Trader Joe's ....

Say it aint so ......

[maddezmom]

20. kick

[AngryAmish]

21. E. coli-laden spinach linked to Calif. grower

<http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-coli16.html>

"A California natural foods company was linked Friday to a nationwide E. coli outbreak that has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others. Supermarkets across the country pulled spinach from shelves, and consumers tossed out the leafy green.

Food and Drug Administration officials said they had received reports of illness in 19 states.

The outbreak was traced to Natural Selection Foods, based in San Juan Bautista, Calif., and the company has voluntarily recalled products containing spinach.

snip

"Natural Selection Foods LLC said in a statement that it was cooperating with federal and state health officials to identify the source of the contamination and had stopped shipping all fresh spinach products. They are sold as Rave Spinach, Natural Selection Foods, Dole, Earthbound Farm, Trader Joe's, Ready Pac, Green Harvest, among other brand names"

This shows that "natural and organic" does not automatically mean healthy. What is the #1 organic fertilizer? Feces. Wash and cook your food, folks!

[aquart]

22. Earthbound is what they sell at Costco.

Not only the spinach but the mesclun has been removed.

[Evergreen Emerald]

23. Chocolate anyone?

I through out all my bagged lettuce and spinach--I buy it alot! Yikes. The one time I can honestly say that chocolate is healthier than spinach.

[Fridays Child]

32. I like how you think.

It's only logical! :hi:

[Halliburton]

37. especially dark choclate!

[Selatius]

24. This will make natural growers look bad.

I can only guess that they had lax standards. If that was not the case, then I guess their standards were up to par. It's just they cut corners and ignored them.

[AngryAmish]

25. Look bad?

They got hundreds sick and killed a guy. I like natural food (if it is tasty) but people should know the danger.

[Selatius]

26. There are supposed to be minimum standards

If all natural growers didn't have these standards, then you would see a lot more dead people each year. This case, to me, suggests they were cutting corners. There's a danger of eating many foods, and naturally grown foods are no exception, but these standards are useless if you ignore them for the sake of cutting cost and time, and this is all just a hunch on my part, and I may be cynical, but I think somebody was cutting corners.

[brook]

31. Earth Bound

wasn't content to be the smallish family company from the Carmel Valley. They now contract with farmers in many locations - including Mexico where nightsoil was -and maybe still is - commonly used as a fertilizer. When I lived there, we soaked all fruits and vegetable in a clorox-water solution. In the U.S.,before the availabilty of organic foods, I continued to do that to remove pesticides.

BYW, we are required to use the clorox soak for some fruits that we serve in our senior lunch program.
Probably a good idea at home as well.

[kestrel91316]

33. They either had lax standards, or somebody decided to HELP them

APPEAR to have lax standards.

Nobody has ruled out corporate sabotage yet.

Just sayin'..............

[BrklynLiberal]

35. I must say that thought went thru my mind, but my tinfoil hat is always

very close to me...
:hi: :shrug: :tinfoilhat:

[smirkymonkey]

43. I thought the same thing - It's amazing how cynical I have become

in the last 5 years or so.

However I eat organic bagged spinach almost every day during the work week and I have never once gotten sick.

[Pachamama]

49. Actually, not "Natural Growers" (or do you mean Organic?) farmers but

rather the LARGE SCALE ORGANIC PRODUCERS, like the one in this case.

I buy Organic, but I buy it at the local farmers market from farmers who grow it on a small scale locally.

This event that involves a massive E coli outbreak was destined to happen (or something like it) with the large scale producers who were supplying the US and Warehouses etc. with "Organic". Its been something long-time Organic Farmers with smaller farms have been warning about.

[mike_c]

27. I doubt very seriously whether organic husbandry has anything...

...to do with this. First, nothing that's done to non-organic produce would have affected E. coli once the greens were contaminated. Second, I suspect this is a packing plant issue, not a farming issue.

[BrklynLiberal]

29. I tend to agree with you. I doubt that this started at the farm. This

was more likley something that was an oversight at the packaging end of the deal.

[kestrel91316]

34. I read elsewhere that the "packing plant" in many cases now is THE

FIELDS themselves. They do it all right there in the dirt.

USDA is getting way too lax in their standards.

[bluestateguy]

28. Well, this is what happens when government regulators don't regulate

Nobody should be surprised. The Bush Agriculture Department and Governor Schwarzenegger's California Agriculture Department are simply too underfunded.

[BrklynLiberal]

30. Actually, the biggest organic fertilizer is FISH, not feces.

You make it sound like organic farmers have creatures come out and take dumps on their crops. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

[kestrel91316]

36. You are correct. Fresh manure is specifically prohibited in

organic agriculture, and properly composted manure cannot possibly contain live E. coli. John Stossel's disinformation notwithstanding.

[BrklynLiberal]

40. Has John Stossel EVER said anything that was accurate..?

Aside from his name, perhaps.

[papau]

42. NEVER - at least not on TV - partial truth lies that try to lead you to

a wrong conclusion is all he ever does.

[INdemo]

38. Here's a thought

Spinach could not have been the only vegetable product that could be contaminated..Assume that truck or box car from the west coast was loaded with all types of vegetables.

[fed-up]

39. E.coli can be found lots of places-maybe a worker didn't wash their hands,

maybe a bird flew over a field, maybe a worker used the field for an outhouse, lots of possible causes.

Lots of different strains of e. coli, this one just happens to be a nasty one. Still I think this is more a terra lert, one death. HEck about 5 people died in my county from car wrecks in the last few weeks.

Yes, there are nasty bacteria out there, yes, shit happens, yes, it would be nice if we didn't have to worry about it, but that is part of life.

[fleabert]

41. something to note is that this company voluntarily put out a recall-

the recall was not initiated by the government in any way.

Everything I have read about this company says they operate responsibly, and I wait to pass judgement until the inquiry is complete. Sometimes an accident is simply that, an accident. Regrettable, but it happens. they could have done everything in their power to operate properly and still had this happen.

edit:spelling

[LostinVA]

44. Organic growers are legally not allowed to sue feces as fertilizer

That is incorrect, AA.

[ret5hd]

46. well, i personally am glad someone has stopped those damned trial lawyers

from sueing innocent feces!

[BrightKnight]

45. Testing food for things like e coli might be a good idea.

You can’t force people to accept good government if they don't want it. Deregulation is yummy!

[Gormy Cuss]

47. "Natural" is essentially meaningless, and this company has both

certified organic and conventionally grown greens. That said, it's best to wash raw produce before consuming it to get rid of the dirt and insect parts, if nothing else.

The bagged organic salad capital of the world is a waterslide park for lettuce inside a giant refrigerator on its side in the middle of the San Juan Valley, near San Juan Bautista.
...
This is where Earthbound Farm turns 26,000 acres of organic produce, most of it lettuce, into bags carrying the most familiar organic brand in the country. We're looking at millions of servings of organic salad in the making -- 13.5 million a week, and growing.
...
That total includes a substantial amount of conventional salad greens grown and bagged by Earthbound, and sold to food service companies or under its Natural Selection label. The conventional part of their business will grow with Earthbound's recent purchase of its neighbor, Pride of San Juan, which will push total production to 40 million servings of salad this year alone.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/05/03/FDGVTIIND31.DTL

[951-Riverside]

53. I don't eat coleslaw often because I can't wash it but

...I always wash my meats, fruits,vegetable, etc and so far *knocks on wood* I've been lucky.

[fishwax]

48. I tried to buy spinach at the store this weekend and could find neither

bagged spinach nor bunch spinach. It seems as though every trace of spinach had been removed from the stores I went to. I'm glad they ID'd the source of the contamination and hope they remedy the situation soon, as spinach makes up the lion's share of my veggie intake :(

[laylah]

50. Although the National

Selection is based in San Juan Bautista, where, exactly, are their fields? Anyone?

Jenn

[Gormy Cuss]

52. Five Western states (CA, AZ, others) BC, and Mexico depending on season.

and Mexico, depending on the season. Natural Selections is the conventional produce brand for Earthbound. Earthbound branded products are grown organically mostly in fields of the Salinas Valley of CA, except in the offseason. The Natural Selections brand comes from all of the above locations according to article at the link I posted earlier.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2513634&mesg_id=2515398

[CatholicEdHead]

56. I usually buy EarthBound produce

The rest of the bagged vegatables (usually Dole) are not as high quality. I will wait a few weeks for this to pass and work through the system.