NYT/Reuters: U.S. Expands Warning to Cover All Fresh Spinach

[DeepModem Mom]

U.S. Expands Warning to Cover All Fresh Spinach
By REUTERS
Published: September 16, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumers should avoid all fresh spinach, regardless of whether it is pre-packaged, a chief U.S. food safety official warned on Saturday, saying the number of E. coli illnesses had passed 100.

``We need to get a clear message to consumers,'' said Dr. David Acheson, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's director of food safety and security.

``Some consumers may not be aware that spinach that may be available to them may have been pre-packaged,'' he said referring to loose spinach sold in restaurants and supermarkets.

While the FDA did not expand the warning beyond fresh spinach, Acheson said the investigation into the cause of the illnesses was continuing and other possible sources had not been excluded.

Investigators believe that the spinach was contaminated before it was bagged since more than one bag contained contaminated product, Acheson said on a Saturday evening conference call with reporters....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-ecoli.html

[C_U_L8R]

1. Do they hate us for our spinach?

what is wrong with the world????

[Ninja Jordan]

4. ROTFLMAO

[aquart]

2. This is horrible.

A valuable, carefully tended food source has been rendered deadly.

And I am craving spinach with my whole soul.

[susanna]

5. Go frozen!

Or is that off limits too?

[aquart]

19. I don't know! I don't know!

Why won't they talk about frozen????

[susanna]

22. So it's not just me!

I've been craving some creamed spinach and I have been holding off... :-)

[Lisa]

8. I feel your pain! The stuff I planted last month is only 2" high!

(I usually put in a fall crop of cold-resistant Savoy type, but was kind of late this year -- so I will be spinachless for weeks to come.)

[susanna]

23. Spinach is weird, if I recall...

...it's not truly a cold weather crop, but it hates the heat of summer, that's for sure. So I'm guessing you have very short windows within which to grow it, likely spring and fall - which you are doing right now. See if it doesn't have a growth spurt soon...or start picking the baby greens and using them as you can.

I'm a Michigan gardener, and tend to stick to deep green lettuces and kale for my greens in those cool window periods...spinach has always been too fussy for me, even though my soil is top notch and everything else I plant grows like a weed. I just can't seem to find the spinach niche in my garden. Though I still try... :-)

[fishwax]

12. spinach accounts for about 75% of my veggie intake

I love the stuff. I don't know what I'll do :shrug:

[Boo Boo]

3. Sounds like they are going over the top to cover their asses

In spite of expanding the warning to cover all fresh spinach, they still end up talking about bagged spinach that you may not be aware had been bagged. AFAIK, we are still talking about bagged spinach that came from one supplier. True? Is there any reason to believe that has changed?

I still haven't seen a thing that would stop me from eating fresh, unprepared, bunch spinach. I've eaten some within the period in question and have had no problems. Fresh bunch spinach does not come from the supplier to which the contaminated spinach has been traced.

Fresh, organic bunch spinach. Prepare it yourself. Yummy.

[wildflowergardener]

6. local spinach?

My father suggested going to the local farmers market to get spinach that was locally grown.

It would seem to me that wouldn't be contaminated.

Meg

[pnwmom]

11. Locally grown doesn't matter.

It all depends on what the conditions are at the farm. Last year I read an article about one organic place that had the open washing tank in the middle of the area where they were keeping the cows. Not very sanitary.

[gorbal]

24. YES buy Local

The problem here is all the contaminated spinach coming from one large distributer. Buy from a local farmer that you know and trust. One huge problem with these big comapany farms is that it is harder to pinpoint where it came from if you get sick. But local and you know.

Add to that the waste of oil from trucking greens around the country. We need to help build up our local companies so when oil becomes extreemly expensive we'll at least be able to eat.

I haven't heard from ecoli from local family farms in my area:) Off to the farmers market with me.

[janx]

7. A local restaurant with a few locations where I live

will not serve spinach in any of its recipes. This might be an over-reaction, but the spinach in question came from an organic farm in California (this is the first connection).

It might be prudent to wait for a couple of weeks before eating any more spinach.

[whatelseisnew]

13. Link? Where did you read this?

What farm in California?

[pnwmom]

10. I read that they don't know that it's only limited to one supplier.

One supplier has been identified for a certain number -- but not all -- of the cases.

[lumpy]

9. There a problem with packaged lettuce

several months ago. I stopped buying packaged salad greens at that time. We feel safer using head lettuce because the outer leaves can be discarded and thoroughly washed. Glad we are using our home grown chard instead of spinach, we like it better also. Easy to grow and its keeps producing all summer and fall. Can even be grown in pots; same with lettuce.

[Finder]

16. I am seriously thinking of doing one of those hydroponic gardens...

with all the recent probs with veggies. If it is not potatoes it is greens like lettuce(which has become very expensive)and now the spinach. I attributed it to the weather issues the past few years.

I think it is interesting how one food source can disrupt so much.

[Finder]

14. I am starting to think there is more to this...

than is being reported. The first thing that gave me pause was the advice to throw it away rather than "thoroughly cook" which would take care of the bacteria.

This weekend my local market had no fresh spinach(unbagged) on the shelves at all. Nor did they have escarole, chickory etc...

[truthisfreedom]

15. this is weird. makes me think there's a "terrah" coverup in the works.

why spinach?

[Finder]

17. Starting to cross my mind as well...however...

this could be a test to see how quickly a potentially contaminated food source would affect the US.

[leftyladyfrommo]

18. I hate spinach.

But I feel sorry for all of those growers out there. They will lose a ton of money over this.

[ccinamon]

20. this is to scare us into eating iceberg lettuce!!

That was my first thought -- the iceberg lettuce growers aren't making enough money, so let's scare everyone into assuming it is the only safe lettuce to eat until they make this years profit margin.

Yep, call me sceptical when it comes to ANYTHING released by Shrubhuman and his administration.

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

21. Despite a confirmed death and sicknesses in several states?

You give them too much credit.