Spinach Scam E.coli? here's an answer

[Melindaxl]

I ate spinach everyday! I bought the bagged spinach and had it all last week until I heard about it Friday! I didn't get sick once! I mean I ate like 5 cups a day! Spinach is my favorite green for my smoothies! I have inleast a couple of green smoothies everyday to get enough greens in me! Now it's going to be hard since I can't have any spinach. I don't care for celery in my smoothies that much! I tried turnip greens today and I decided it would be better to have with salads! Does anyone know of any other greens that taste good in smoothies with bananas? I'm really wish this didn't happen with the spinach because it really helps me with my health and taste buds!
Anyway I don't know what to believe, but like others say I rather be safe then sorry!! Everyone have a great raw day, and thanks to anyone that can help me think of another green that would taste good in my smoothies!

Melindaxl

[Sharon in Colorado]

Melinda I like parsley in my smoothies.

[Melindaxl]

Thanks Sharon, I'll try it!

[Cinnamon]

Melindaxl-I use a number of different greens in my daily smoothies including parsley as Sharon mentioned. Also, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, romaine, all sorts of leafy lettuce (love red leaf), and sometimes celery although I prefer it to be juiced.

I also ate a lot of spinach the days before the recall, so far I'm not sick either!

[Spectatrix]

I ate some spinach right before the recall too and haven't gotten sick. However, I'm sure that only a small percentage of the spinach crop was contaminated.

[rawfigure]

The big deal is only one person died! and it became a national epidemic, a plague! Read the link I provided above. joz

Putting warning signs in the grocery store and on the news is in no way an epidemic or a plaque , nor is it being portrayed that way. It is simply a RESPONSIBLE action, not a scam, not a conspiracy...so only one person died ? well lets think about that...what if the one person who died was a loved one ...and if one of your own family was sick ?

I think some are to sensitive that this is a movement against raw food, lets take it for what it is...e coli in a batch of spinach. This too will pass. If it was in a SAD food some in the Raw food movement would be running that for what it is worth.

[Sharon in Colorado]

They also say 16 people developed kidney failure.

I understand the whole germ theory, but even if you are transitioning to a raw diet or not totally clean, you cannot be sure that your body is not going to react to the bacteria. And some of us live with other family members who are not practiving an all raw lifestyle, and maybe they too are at risk.

It would be interesting to find out the health background of some of the people who got very ill and died.

[Melindaxl]

On the CBS news tonight they also showed a Organic Spinach as a brand that was contaminated! So I don't know what to believe because if it's organic it was supposed to be grown naturally without any chemicals or anything on them! It sounds like this is going to last a while because they were talking how it will be hard to trace! I hope they won't start blaming it on any other raw fruits or vegetables!
Thanks Cinnaman for your help! I"ll try those greens too! Your welcome Doe, I just wanted to let everyone know how much bagged spinach I ate all the way up until Friday night and never got sick once! It shows in my state that no one got sick by it though! So maybe we didn't get those brands in our state that might of be contaminated! Anyway like I said, I have no idea!

Melindaxl

[dreamrawalwz]

On the CBS news tonight they also showed a Organic Spinach as a brand that was contaminated! So I don't know what to believe because if it's organic it was supposed to be grown naturally without any chemicals or anything on them! It sounds like this is going to last a while because they were talking how it will be hard to trace! I hope they won't start blaming it on any other raw fruits or vegetables!
Thanks Cinnaman for your help! I"ll try those greens too! Your welcome Doe, I just wanted to let everyone know how much bagged spinach I ate all the way up until Friday night and never got sick once! It shows in my state that no one got sick by it though! So maybe we didn't get those brands in our state that might of be contaminated! Anyway like I said, I have no idea!

Melindaxl

My mom heard that they tested ALL of EArthbound Farm's spinach and found NOTHING wrong on the fields....so it's after harvesting taht's the problem. Maybe contaminated water to rinse it with?

[MangoMommy]

hey wyjoz... I was thinking on the same lines as you. If you just stop and consider the millions of people in the United States and then think of all the people who eat spinach and then realize that only 100 people got sick (the last I heard)and one died...well, that's a VERY SMALL percent.
How was it determined that without any doubt it was spinach that made these people sick? Why is it only bagged spinach and not all spinach??
I've been traveling so I haven't heard many updates... but how come it has taken so long to find out the source of the so called contamination? If it actually was the spinach, why didn't they ask the people who got sick.."what brand of spinach did you eat?
I understand the need for protecting people but I think the execution of this sort of thing could have been handled much better.

[alex]

For your consideration:


OCA Statement on Nationwide Outbreak of E-Coli Poisoning from Bagged Spinach

By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, Sept. 18, 2006

OCA is saddened and concerned about the nationwide outbreak of E. coli food poisoning, which, according to the press, has caused one death and serious illness among more than 100 people, apparently coming from California bagged spinach, affecting several dozen brand names, possibly both organic and non-organic. A Sept. 18 Associated Press story indicates that all contaminated lettuce detected so far has come from non-organic lettuce, though a major company involved in recalling its spinach, Natural Selection Foods, distributes both organic and non-organic brands.

According to Justin Norton from the Associated Press, "The company whose fresh spinach was linked to an E. coli outbreak that's sickened at least 109 people said its organic products had been cleared of contamination, while health officials continued working to pinpoint the bacteria source. Natural Selection Foods LLC, the country's largest grower of organic produce, said late Sunday that manufacturing codes from packages of spinach that infected patients turned over to health officials all were from non-organic spinach. Natural Selection packages both organic and conventionally grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan Bautista plant."

Already, some agribusiness-connected websites have posted material claiming that this health emergency was caused by organic agricultureÂ’s dependence on animal manure as fertilizer. Nothing so far has indicated that this problem is exclusively related to organic spinach nor that it has anything to do with contamination that took place in the field. The most likely explanation for this outbreak is that 90% of the nation's bagged spinach comes from one region in California, Monterey County, where a combination of excess manure, tainted with a dangerous variety of E. coli, from factory style dairy farms adjacent to spinach and lettuce farms, and above average rainfall and flooding appears to have contaminated irrigation water with E. coli-tainted animal feces, resulting in spinach plants being contaminated with E. coli. As background to this issue, the Cornucopia Institute www.Cornucopia.org has provided the following information.

1. Organic Farming Protects Humans, Livestock, and Environment from Dangerous Profit-Motivated Industrial Agricultural Practices

Over the years, right-wing think tanks (the Hudson Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Hoover Institution, etc.) have tried to discredit organic farming practices by saying that composted fertilizer containing animal manure, used as a non-chemical fertilizer on organic farms, is dangerous, when in fact there have been very few reported cases of food poisoning caused by organic products. On the other hand the Centers for Disease Control have admitted that American consumers suffer from up to 78 million cases of food poisoning (coming from conventional food) every year. Think tank funding for much of this anti-organic propaganda comes from Monsanto, DuPont, and other agrichemical manufacturers.

A study by the University of Minnesota, published in the May 2004 issue of Journal of Food Protection, concluded that there was no statistical difference between contamination in vegetables grown on conventional and organic Minnesota farms, with chemical fertilizer and composted manure, respectively.

2. Risks from industrial concentration/factory farming

According to an FDA letter to growers (November 2005): "The FDA is aware of 18 outbreaks of foodborne illness since 1995 caused by Escherichia coli 0157:H7 for which fresh or fresh cut-lettuce was implicated as the outbreak vehicle."

This is a problem that far supersedes debates about the merit of organic farming. This is a grave public health risk directly attributable to industrial-scale livestock production (factory-farming).

This agricultural area of California, where this latest contamination crisis originated, produces the majority of the country's spinach and many other fresh-market vegetables. It is contiguous to many CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) managing thousands of dairy cows each.

The combination of this concentration of a mountain of manure in a relatively small geographic area, and animal feeding practices, poses tremendous health and environmental liabilities.

E. coli and other potent pathogens are known to migrate onto neighboring farms by contamination of surface water and groundwater and/or by becoming airborne through blowing dust from feedlots or farm fields where manure has been spread.

The FDA's November 2005 letter went on to say, “E. coli O157-H7 was isolated from sediment in an irrigation canal bordering a ranch that had been identified in three separate outbreaks."

A concern is that many of the pathogens now entering the food chain due to industrial agricultural practices are becoming resistant to many antibiotics due to their widespread use in livestock production.

“To get this many people sick, it's got to be the water,” said William Marler, a Seattle attorney who is representing 25 victims of the outbreak. “Thirty years ago, if you bought contaminated lettuce or spinach, just your family would get sick. Now it’s a nationwide outbreak."

E. coli O157-H7 is a by-product of grain-based feeding to ruminants (dairy and beef cattle) in an attempt to fatten them up quicker and at a lower cost. The cowÂ’s digestive system (and acid balance) evolved to break down grass, not high-production, refined rations. This health crisis, and past deadly problems with contaminated meat, is a direct by-product of producing cheap, unhealthy cattle.

The majority of all animal manure, as well as municipal sewage sludge (politely referred to as biosolids―human waste), in this country is spread on conventional crops. In most cases there is little regulatory oversight.

3. Organic safeguards

Unlike conventional production, the application of raw manure on organic crops is strictly regulated and sewage sludge is prohibited. Most organic manure is composted prior to application, a practice that greatly reduces risk and enhances environmental protection.

“I am a compliance officer. The USDA has looked into our farmers' composting practices―even on our smallest farm―they do check if things are not documented. Details ARE looked at. I can prove this because of an USDA audit we had that covered this issue,” said Cissy Bowman, a long-time organic certification expert based in Indiana.

It should be noted that regardless of scale, all organic food has a mandatory audit trail required, so trace-back in the event of food contamination or questions of certification are possible. This mandatory audit trail does not exist for conventional food.

4. Organic and local ― an antidote for the problems of industrial farming

Furthermore, concentrating much of the nation's food supply in any given region, and the exponential increase in imports from developing countries, puts our nationÂ’s food security and health at risk.

There is no reason why spinach cannot be grown, much of the year, as is now being done by small and medium-sized producers in the Midwest and throughout much of the Northeast. The only reason that this is not being done on a larger scale is artificial economies, subsidies, and compromises in quality in an unbridled effort to produce cheaper and cheaper food in this country.

There has been exponential growth in direct-marketing by farmers at roadside stands, farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, and organic farms. It adds great meaning for many consumers to buy organic food directly from the families who produce it, with loving care. These farm families need to be protected from any fallout in the marketplace that might occur due to the practices of large industrial farms in California.


alex

[wyjoz]

hey wyjoz... I was thinking on the same lines as you. If you just stop and consider the millions of people in the United States and then think of all the people who eat spinach and then realize that only 100 people got sick (the last I heard)and one died...well, that's a VERY SMALL percent.
How was it determined that without any doubt it was spinach that made these people sick? Why is it only bagged spinach and not all spinach??
I've been traveling so I haven't heard many updates... but how come it has taken so long to find out the source of the so called contamination? If it actually was the spinach, why didn't they ask the people who got sick.."what brand of spinach did you eat?
I understand the need for protecting people but I think the execution of this sort of thing could have been handled much better.

When I go to the store; I see many many people buy bagged Spinach, Costco has big big bags of Spinach and I see many buy it also. That's every city in all of the United States and only 1 died, that's unfortunate,(but 100 got sick?? SO FOR EVERY BAG OF SPINACH SOLD AND AT LEAST THE ONLY ONE THAT PURCHASED IT ATE IT AND NOT SHARED IT WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY THAT MEANS EVERYONE THAT PURCHASED SPINACH SHOULD HAVE BEEN SICK !!! in every city and every state! If people can't see this un logic I don't know what else to say! It might have been in a few bags as the bags might not have been refridgerated properly and exposure of a sealed bag (no oxygen) and warmth a perfect incubating environment.
***this was posted in one of the links here """
they tested ALL of EArthbound Farm's spinach and found NOTHING wrong on the fields....so it's after harvesting taht's the problem.
Maybe contaminated water to rinse it with?"

[wyjoz]

Here:
http://www.ebfarm.com/




Consumer Update from Earthbound Farm
RE: e coli outbreak
September 18, 2006
The investigation into this e coli outbreak is on-going and consumers should continue to heed the FDAÂ’s advice not to eat any spinach products until further notice.

Based on the preliminary information available in this on-going investigation, we have been advised by the US Food & Drug Administration and the California Department of Health Services that no organic products, including Earthbound Farm brand spinach or other products, have been linked to this outbreak at this time. This does not mean that organic products have been cleared.

At this point in the investigation, all of the manufacturing codes taken from spinach packaging retained by patients are from packages of conventional (non-organic) spinach. However, the investigation is still underway.

We would like to reiterate our concern for everyone who has fallen ill as a result of the current e coli outbreak. Our thoughts and prayers are with every one of them, and we and others in our industry are continuing to work with federal and state authorities to find the source of the contamination.

We will continue to provide updates as meaningful information becomes available.

[Lay-Lay]

Personally I am soo happy they are testing all of it and making a big deal of it. I appreciate the concern for safety precautions, just like I appreciate it when it has to do with a concern in regards to any other product.

My opinion is that some get sick from it because they may have health issues, weaker immune system at the time, or it was just the timing.

Anyways, I had spinach for lunch without even thinking of it, LOL! So yummy!

[dreamrawalwz]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but I'd like to add that the lady who died was elderly and could have been from dehydration as a secondary response from the e. coli.