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Second Company Named in Contaminated Spinach Outbreak

Consumers Warned to Avoid All Fresh Spinach

By James R. Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 19, 2006

• California Burger Patties Recalled • Final Verdict on 2006 Spinach E. Coli Outbreak: Unknown • Consumer Groups Want FDA to Regulate Sanitation on Farms • Irradiation Could Reduce Food-Borne Illness • E. Coli In Spinach Linked To Manure • FBI Probes E. coli Outbreak • Food Safety Expert Sees More Trouble Ahead • Sensor May Speed E. Coli Detection • Two More Spinach Deaths Reported • Tainted Spinach Toll Rises • Second Company Named in Contaminated Spinach Outbreak • California Spinach Blamed for E. coli Outbreak • E. coli Outbreak in Bagged Spinach --- • Consumer complaints about Contaminated Spinach

A second company has been implicated in the outbreak of a dangerous strain of E. coli in bagged spinach as the number of people stricken climbed above 100. At least one death has been attributed to the outbreak.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that River Ranch Fresh Foods obtained salad that included spinach from the first company implicated, Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Bautista, Calif. The River Ranch spinach was sold under the brand names Farmers Market, Hy-Vee, and Fresh and Easy.

Natural Selection denied Monday that its packaged spinach, sold under brand names including Dole, Earthbound Farm and Trader Joe's, were responsible. But some consumers say otherwise.

Harvey of Beverly Hills, California, said he became ill after eating packaged spinach from Trader Joe's.

"I spent five days in the hospital ... sweats, fever, severe pain, muscle spasms. I need more testing to determine long term damage," Harvey said in a complaint to ConsumerAffairs.com.

At one Trader Joe's in Virginia visited by a reporter last week, a chirpy sign above an empty salad bin cheerily told shoppers spinach had been removed "for your safety" even though it claimed "no one has gotten sick from our spinach." An employee questioned by the reporter said she was unaware the company's spinach had been implicated in the outbreak.

Alex of Piedmont, California, said he had eaten Earthbound Farm's spinach before falling ill. He was sick from August 30 until Sept. 3 and was treated with the antibiotic Cipro for five days. Alex said he suffered from "non-stop diarrhea, extreme pain and dehydration."

FDA officials say that trying to pinpoint the exact source of the contamination is very difficult. In many similar cases, the cause is never found.

The primary method of investigation is quizzing victims about what they ate. This is known as the epidemiological method and is an accepted investigative tool used by all public health agencies. Since no physical evidence remains, chemical testing is often of little use.

"At this point we have not found E. coli O157 in any bags of spinach that have been tested," said Dr. David Acheson of the FDA. "Our link back to Natural Selection comes from the epidemiological studies."

E.coli is carried in animal feces. Among the routes it could follow in coming into contact with spinach are contaminated water used in irrigation. Another likely suspect is animal manure, which is used in organic farming instead of chemical fertilizer. The latest outbreak is potentially a serious setback for the organic food movement.

While the quibbling over where the contaminated spinach came from continues, the FDA warns that consumers should continue to avoid all fresh spinach -- raw or cooked, bagged or unbagged, organic or not - until further notice.

Unfortunately, fresh produce is too often contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella, or other potentially deadly pathogens, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Contamination can come from use of untreated manure used as fertilizer, irrigation water contaminated with waste from animal agriculture, or cross-contamination during processing.

"It is vital that the federal government ensure the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially since we want people to eat more of these healthy foods, not less. But regrettably, food-safety responsibilities are divided among the FDA, USDA, and other agencies, with no single agency having primacy from farm to fork," CSPI said.

ConsumerAffairs.com's medical advisor, Dr. Henry Fishman, said E. coli causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools, accompanied by cramps and abdominal pain.

In fact, we have E. coli in our intestines, Fishman said. It helps turn our food into useful vitamins. However, this particular strain of the Enterobacteriaceae family is a particularly dangerous form of the bacteria. It is the same strain that was found in Jack in the Box meat in 1993 in Washington state. That strain infected 700 people and killed four.

Fishman said cooking food kills E. coli. However, boiling the spinach, compared to broiling hamburger meat, may not be enough.

Most healthy consumers should be able to fight the bacteria on their own by hydrating well, Fishman said. Antibiotics are generally not effective. Those who fall ill should should drink lots of fluids and seek medical attention promptly.

Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).

HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death. To date, 50 cases of illness have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 8 cases of HUS and one death.

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