Finding The Spinach-E. Coli Outbreak Point
Who would have thought spinach could cause some much fuss? Yesterday CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta helped get us up to speed on the spinach-E. coli situation. Today Andrew Bridges of the Associated Press reports officials are making progress on the source of the outbreak:
State and federal officials have traced the outbreak to a California company's fresh spinach, they still don't know how bacteria contaminated the leafy greens.Good news, but officials are still urging people to take raw spinach off their menu:
They have ruled out tampering, leaving multiple other potential sources of contamination, including the water and fertilizer that farmers in California's Salinas Valley use to grow much of the nation's spinach crop. Testing could reveal that source, though that isn't guaranteed.
For now, officials warn consumers not to eat raw spinach. Natural Selection Foods LLC, whose multiple brands many people reported eating before falling sick, has recalled spinach products distributed throughout the United States. The company also distributed spinach to Canada, Mexico and Taiwan.Given the severity of the outbreak, the internet is abuzz with spinach related news. Here’s a couple CNN video news reports worth watching:
Test results on samples from produce packing plants are due in a week or more, said Dr. David Acheson of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Inspectors were due to begin visiting fields this week.
Various produce growers associations worked with the FDA to publish new guidelines for the safe handling of spinach and other leafy greens in April, after the agency voiced concerns about produce safety.
