Spinach from Dr. Irene

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Dr Irene's Nutrition Tidbits

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

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Nutrition Tidbit of the week: When will I eat spinach again?

Volume VII Issue No 22

In this issue

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- When will I eat spinach again?

- What's for dinner?

- Answers to your food and nutrition questions

- Information for Readers

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*** When will I eat spinach again? ***

Oy vey!!! Those words sum up how I felt when I heard that 199 people

were ill

from spinach. What was a nutritionist to do? It's hard enough being the

" bad

guy " when asking people to limit candy, soda, fatty meats and fried

food in

their diet, but it becomes unbearable when a nutritionist has to add

spinach to

the list.

Not that it is surprising that an outbreak was linked to processing

salad greens

in a huge facility. Think of the challenge of removing every trace of

dirt or

contaminants from spinach before tossed into huge salad processing

machines.

Just one plant contaminated by the wrong bacteria can contaminate the

entire

batch. When you view it this way, it seems surprising that we produce

thousands

of pounds of bagged salad a week with rare reports of problems.

That doesn't make you feel any safer. We won't feel safe until we have

identified the source of the contamination and understand ways to

reduce our

risk of illness.

Relief is in sight. A FDA press release of October 12 identified the

source of

E. coli. They found samples of cattle feces on a ranch that matched the

genetic

fingerprints for the same strain of E. coli that sickened 199 people.

The

positive test result is a significant finding and it makes us feel

safer that

the ranch is not currently being used to grow any fresh produce. The

investigation will continue to determine how water contaminated with

these feces

then contaminated spinach.

Certainly the history of E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens

indicates an

ongoing problem. FDA and the State of California, as part of a longer

term

strategy, now expect industry to develop a plan to minimize the risk of

another

outbreak related to dangerous strains of E. coli. In the meantime, you

need to

decide when you feel safe eating spinach.

I can't make that decision for you. I can only tell what FDA says and

then

share my decisions. First, here is the latest information from the Food

and

Drug Administration, taken directly from their website.

(http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/spinacqa.html)

What is FDA's current consumer advice regarding the consumption of

spinach?

Spinach implicated in the current outbreak has traced back to Natural

Selection

Foods LLC of San Bautista, California. Natural Selection Foods LLC

has

recalled all spinach products under multiple brand names with a date

code of

October 1, 2006 or earlier. Five other companies have issued secondary

recalls

because they received the recalled product from Natural Selection Foods

LLC. (Go

to http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Edms/spinacqa.html#brands for a complete

list of

brand names and associated date codes that are subject to these

recalls.) FDA

continues to advise consumers not to eat raw spinach or blends that may

contain

spinach that were subject to any of the aforementioned recalls. These

recalls

are applicable to the brands listed in the recall notifications and

include raw

spinach and blends that may contain raw spinach with date codes of

October 1 or

earlier. Processed spinach (e.g. frozen and canned) has not been

implicated in

this outbreak.

Consumers are further advised that proper storage of fresh produce can

affect

both quality and safety. To maintain the quality of fresh produce,

store

perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce,

herbs, and

mushrooms) in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below.

All

produce that is purchased pre-cut or peeled should be refrigerated to

maintain

both quality and safety.

Many precut, bagged produce items like lettuce are pre-washed. If so,

it will be

stated on the packaging. This pre-washed, bagged produce can be used

without

further washing.

- Can cooking fresh spinach eliminate E. coli O157:H7?

Cooking fresh spinach at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds will

kill any E.

coli O157:H7 present.

- What is FDA's advice to retailers and food service operators

regarding fresh

spinach?

In order to protect consumers, retailers and food service operators

should not

sell raw spinach or blends that may contain raw spinach that is subject

to the

Natural Selection Foods LLC recall or one of the five associated

secondary

voluntary recalls. These recalls specifically include spinach and

blends that

may contain spinach with date codes of October 1 or earlier.

- Are any other types of leafy greens included in this outbreak?

Any other type of leafy green (lettuce, collard greens, kale) is NOT

implicated

in this outbeak.

What is my decision?

At this point I feel safe purchasing locally grown spinach or spinach

that is

sold by the individual bunch and has not been processed in huge

batches.

While I am not yet purchasing bagged spinach, my confidence in bagged

spinach is

increasing. I say this because now that the source of contamination has

been

identified, it does appear that it was a fairly isolated incident. The

reason

so many people became ill in so many states speaks to our food

processing and

distribution system. We rely on such large equipment and so few

processors that

contamination at one small source can impact across the country.

My confidence also increases as we move away from the original

outbreak. Among

ill persons who provided the date when their illnesses began, 80%

became ill

between August 19 and September 5. Most spinach processed around that

time

would no longer be on the market in a raw form. Hopefully this means

that the

crisis is over related to that batch of contaminated spinach.

I must admit that when faced between the decisions of the convenience

of bagged

spinach or taking the time to clean fresh spinach, I still lean towards

taking

the time. This was a scary event that was not only a spinach scare but

will

leave " spinach scars " on our memory for some time.

For more information on the illnesses, states affected, advice,

recalls,

symptoms of E.coli, lettuce safety initiative, and other background

information,

visit http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/spinach.html

Check Nutrition at my site:

Nutrition.teach-nology.com

Ortiz, RD

nrord@...

" Friends don't let Friends Go Without Chocolate "