E. Coli WARNING

[QKShooter]

1 Dead & 50 people very sick (so far) from eating Bagged Spinach.
The warning entails 8 different states so far but, probably a very good idea just stay away from the bagged Spinach for a while no matter what state you live in.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[P95Carry]

Wow - that's bad! We usually keep some frozen spinach in the freezer and it gets cooked in boiling water - which should deal with pathogens but - good to have a heads up on such things.

Thx QK.

(BTW - Bedford County supposedly had a case of West Nile just discovered).

[PatrioticRick]

Remember some bagged lettuce has spinach in it too.

[retsupt99]

Where did you hear this report and did it mention which states or which area of the country?
Thanks ahead of time.

ret

[Lew]

I regularly haul bagged spinich and lettuce out of California to several states, Ohio, and Georga mostly. Dole has disribution in Ohio and it goes ALL over the US.

[lowflyer]

Dang it! Bagged spinich really brings out the flavor of undercooked hamburger. What's next? Beer nuts contaminated with urea and fecal choliform?

[QKShooter]

AP)

An outbreak of E. coli in eight states has killed one person and sickened at least 49 others, federal health officials said Thursday in warning consumers nationwide not to eat bagged fresh spinach.

The death occurred in Wisconsin, where 20 people were made ill, state officials said. The outbreak has sickened others _ eight of them seriously _ in Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah, according to federal health officials.

In California, state health officials were investigating a possible case that could be linked to the outbreak and warned consumers not to eat the produce.

FDA officials do not know the source of the outbreak other than it appears to be linked to bagged fresh spinach. "We're advising people not to eat it," said Dr. David Acheson of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The outbreak has affected a mix of ages, but most of the cases have involved women, Acheson told reporters in a conference call. He had no further information on the person who died.

The five confirmed patients in Oregon were females who ranged in age from 8 to 62, said Dr. Bill Keene, an epidemiologist with the Oregon Department of Human Services. The cases originated between Aug. 25 and Sept. 1, he said, and were linked to the spinach but not to a specific brand.

"People have either varying or no recollection of the brand they purchased," Keene said.

In Michigan, two adults and a child were sickened, a state health official said. Connecticut reported one case.

"We're telling people if they have bagged produce and they feel like it's a risk, throw it out," Michigan Department of Community Health spokesman T.J. Bucholz said. "If they feel like they have to eat it, wash it first in warm water."

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare was advising people to exercise caution as it tried to gather more information, spokesman Ross Mason said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Wisconsin health officials alerted the FDA about the outbreak Wednesday. Preliminary analysis suggests the same bug is responsible for the outbreak in all eight states.

The warning applied to consumers nationwide because of uncertainty over the origin of the tainted spinach and how widely it was distributed.

Health officials do not know of any link to a specific growing region, grower, brand or supplier, Acheson said.

He said reports of infections have been growing.

"It's increasing by the day," Acheson said. "We may be at the peak, we may not be."

Amy Philpott, a spokeswoman for the United Fresh Produce Association, said that it's possible the cause of the outbreak won't be known for some time, even after its source is determined.

"Our industry is very concerned," she said. "We're taking this very seriously."

E. coli causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, although some people _ including the very young and old _ can develop a form of kidney failure that often leads to death.

Anyone who has gotten sick after eating raw packaged spinach should contact a doctor, officials said.

Other bagged vegetables, including prepackaged salads, apparently are not affected. In general, however, washing all bagged vegetables is recommended.

E. coli lives in the intestines of cattle and other animals and typically is linked to contamination by fecal material. It causes an estimated 73,000 cases of infection, including 61 deaths, each year in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sources of the bacterium include uncooked produce, raw milk, unpasteurized juice, contaminated water and meat, especially undercooked or raw hamburger, the agency says on its Web site.

In December 2005, an E. coli outbreak sickened at least eight children in Washington state. Officials traced the outbreak to unpasteurized milk from a dairy that had been ordered to stop distributing raw milk.

Last October, the FDA warned people not to eat certain Dole prepackaged salads that were connected to an outbreak of E. coli infections in Minnesota. At least 11 people were sickened.

In 1993, a major E. coli outbreak sickened about 700 people and killed four who ate undercooked Jack in the Box hamburgers in Washington state. That outbreak led to tighter Agriculture Department safety standards for meat and poultry producers.

___

Associated Press writers Sven Gustafson in Detroit and Kasie Hunt in Washington contributed to this report.

On the Net:

CDC E. coli information: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/disea...chiacoli_g.htm

MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed unless your forum name is QKShooter.

[ELCruisr]

Raw foods can always carry a risk. One reason I don't usually eat anything raw! A habit that was reinforced after some stints in the third world. Almost lost an aquaintance to E Coli and way too close with a friend and botulism. This stuff is no joke!!!

[Dakotaranger]

I knew I was right about my vegitables growing up.

[rstickle]

So, that's what finally killed Popeye?!

(And there goes spinach salad for awhile!)

[4my son]

I knew I was right about my vegitables growing up.

+1 on that.

[floridaguy911]

I heard this morning on the radio that you can not kill E. Coli through washing it as a thread above stated. I also heard they have contracted E Coli due to the water the plants used for growing. So its not on the plants, its IN the plants. (I am no doctor, plant biologist, or anything of the sort. This is just what I heard this morning on the radio.)

[Team American]

So, that's what finally killed Popeye?!

I'm sure this guy is involved, somehow:

[QKShooter]

They are pulling it all off the shelves.

Popeye is going to Jonesing it for a spinach fix.

Meanwhile, Seriously - The E. Coli tainted spinach originated from the mid east. Get me some Aluminum Foil...I want to make a hat.

Hummmmmmmmmmmmm????

[Tangle]

I'm a little surprised so many people eat spinach; I thought if it didn't come on a hamburger the "now" gens wouldn't touch it.

Thanks for the heads-up!