Warning in the US - bagged spinach

[keykeypie]

I'm sure everyone's heard about this by now...but just in case....PLEASE READ

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...091500865.html

Don't eat ANY spinach!

[aubergine]

Wow. Another reason to use plant based fertiliser I guess.

[assilembob]

I wish there were a way to know if your veggies were grown with animal products or not. Anyone here have any insight? (other than local only and talking to the farmers...there's not a decent farmers market within an hour and a half of where I live)

[Wildflower]

Yesterday we had a work potluck lunch as a going away for one of my only close friends. I had to bring the SALAD, which of course had freaken spinach in it (I didn't get the memo)!

There were mixed thoughts as to whether or not to eat it, since I had JUST bought it, and the news was saying to throw out anything already purchased, also it was a blend - not plain spinach, which the news never mentioned. And of course it was the only veggie thing (other than the guacamole I also brought) that was there for me to eat.

A few of us did eat it anyway, including myself. It was a Spring Mix from Dole that only had a little bit of spinach in it. It wasn't labeled on the package, but I could see it in there.

Then after I ate it, they said not to buy or eat it at all!

They said this morning on the news that they have found the company it was linked to, but they never said which one.

Anyway, I was pissed since I had just spent 20 dollars on all these veggies to make a salad, it was basically what I was planning on eating for lunch, i got up an hour early to chop them all, and I was worried I was going to sicken everyone at my work. GRRRRR!

[Wildflower]

UGH! I just read the link posted, and I guess I shouldn't have eaten that brand...

So, does anyone know if I would be sick by now? I thought food poisoning came on pretty quickly...Am I in the clear?

[assilembob]

here are the companies that are named:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/09/15....ap/index.html
• Bellissima
• Cheney Brothers
• Coastline
• Compliments
• Cross Valley
• D'Arrigo Brothers
• Dole
• Earthbound Farm
• Emeril
• Fresh Point
• Green Harvest
• Jansal Valley
• Mann
• Mills Family Farm
• Natural Selection Foods
• Nature's Basket
• O Organic
• Premium Fresh
• President's Choice
• Pride of San Juan
• Pro-Mark
• Rave Spinach
• Ready Pac
• River Ranch
• Riverside Farms
• Snoboy
• Superior
• Sysco
• Tanimura & Antle
• The Farmer's Market
• Trader Joe's

They should have already been pulled if it were a risk...this whole thing messes me up a lot as I have been trying to eat healthier...and it's too expensive (and next to impossible to find) to get each type of lettuce on it's own...i bought a spring mix last night...

[assilembob]

also: http://dole.com/CompanyInfo/Statement/index.jsp
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01450.html

and various sites on google said anywhere from 12 to 48 hours to get sick...

[Wildflower]

12-48, so I guess I ate it 12 hours ago...

So did you throw your bag of Spring Mix out?

[assilembob]

I made a mistake...I actually don't have spring mix right now. Last night I bought one of the last three bags of baby lettuce mix. It was late...and i haven't slept haha.

But I DID buy a bag of Earthbound Organics Spring Mix last sunday, ate it all before I heard about this and am fine! I go through about 3-4 bags or a large plastic container of it a week...so the whole time this has been going on I have eaten tons of it...
and I have a weak stomach...so I know I haven't come in contact with them. Also take into consideration where you live...only 19 states have reported contaminated spinach so far and Texas isn't one of them. Maybe I lucked out...

[Wildflower]

Also take into consideration where you live...only 19 states have reported contaminated spinach so far and Texas isn't one of them. Maybe I lucked out...

I know, I'm a total idiot! 1/3 of the cases are in my state - and the one death!

Eeeek!

So far I am fine...I seem to have come down with a cold though, scratchy throat and stuffed up-ness, maybe whatever my body is doing to get rid of that will keep the other away.

[assilembob]

ok...
be calm...
think about it this way...how many bags of spinach went out? Probably millions. Are millions of people sick? No. Don't get worked up or you'll psych yourself out hun! I almost did that the day I heard...because my tummy was all gassy and gurgly (nevermind I had a ramen type thingy for lunch and it had enough sodium in it to kill something)

(((hugs))) even if you did get a bad batch...which is somewhat unlikely...just get to a doc as soon as you are actually all runny stool and nauseated...and you will be ok. You are a healthy person! You'll be good to go!

EDIT: forgot to add...I have been fighting a "cold" or severe allergies for a bit...feel betters!

[Wildflower]

Thanks assileambob! Your post cracked me up. I am sure I will be fine...I just can't believe how stupid I was - I just didn't understand if this was serious or not and decided it wasn't only to be bombarded with news about the serious-ness. I am more concerned with having fed it to a group of my coworkers...ooops.

And as a side note, I am very suprised how many people in the country eat spinach - who knew!

[Tigerlily]

Scary!

Good thing my mom bought local romaine lettuce this week instead of our usual bagged salad/spinach mix.

[fiamma]

Uff.. I just bought some today! But I'm on the other side of the ocean so I'm probably safe. If not... it was great talking to you all...

[Frank]

Report from the States.

I guess I'll stick to just a chana balti for the time being.


''Waste Runoff from Livestock Operations Likely Culprit in Contaminated
Spinach Outbreak
Heather Moore 03 October, 2006

The recent outbreak of E. coli contaminated spinach, which killed several people and sickened at least 189 others in 25 states, has many people scratching their heads in bewilderment. After all, E. coli is typically found in ground beef and other animal products, not vegetables. But many experts believe the mass production of farmed animals has led to the outbreak of tainted spinach, just as it has led to avian flu and mad cow disease.

E. coli is found only in the intestines of cows, birds, pigs, and other warm-blooded animals. Society's dependence on meat and dairy products means that millions of cows must be intensively raised in animal factories. Under such crowded conditions, it is easy for E. coli bacteria to spread from cow to cow. In fact, most of the 10 billion cows, pigs, and birds butchered every year in this country are covered with E. coli bacteria (though not necessarily the 0157 variety), an indicator of fecal contamination.

Plant-based foods, on the other hand, don't normally harbor E. coli or other fecal bacteria. When fruits or vegetables do contain E. coli, it is because animal manure was used to fertilize crops or has leaked into waterways. Cross-contamination can also occur when fruits and vegetables are placed on the same surface as meat.

According to The Los Angeles Times, investigators have traced the tainted spinach to California's Central Coast, and suspect that waste runoff from nearby livestock operations is responsible for the bacterial contamination.

Even though California "the number one dairy-producing state in the country" claims to have a 'zero discharge' policy against runoff from livestock operations, the Salinas Valley waterways near the spinach fields, including the Salinas River, Gabilan Creek, Towne Creek, Tembladero Slough, and Old Salinas River Estuary, are known carriers of the strain of E. coli bacteria implicated in the outbreak. A June report from the Central Coast water board states that, "In some areas, grazing has resulted in manure lining the banks of channels of tributaries to the Salinas River."

Shocking as this is, it's no big surprise. The Environmental Protection Agency has reported that livestock operations pollute our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. Animals raised for food produce approximately 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population - an astounding 87,000 pounds per second. The waste often seeps into our waterways, killing marine life and sickening people.

It only takes a few bacteria to make people sick: Scientist Guy Plunkett of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where the genetic code of E. coli was mapped, reports that as few as 10 to 100 E. coli bacteria are sufficient to infect a human. According to The Los Angeles Times, a single cow can shed as much as 100 billion fecal bacteria a day.

While it may not be wise to eat spinach at the present time, adopting a vegetarian diet is still the best way to avoid E. coli and other bacteria spread by farmed animals. As more and more people adopt a vegetarian diet, our dependence on cows and other farmed animals will diminish, therefore lessening the threat of E. coli contamination and saving human and animal lives.''