E. coli and California Spinach

The e. coli in spinach has me starting to look a little sideways at all greens, but so far it just seems to be confined to the spinach. Popeye must be ready to bite his pipe in two after all the work he went through to get kids to eat their spinich. Even 20 years later I still clearly recall his ditty "I'm strong to the finish because I eat me spinach, I'm Popeye the sailor man! :::toot toot:::"

On Wednesday a contaminated bag of Dole baby spinach was found in New Mexico at the home of one of the people that have fallen ill from the recent outbreak of e. coli in spinach. The bag, which was packaged by Natural Selection Foods, is believed to have originated in one of the farms and processing plants in California's Monterey, San Benito or Santa Clara counties.

Often spread by human or animal waste, the e. coli may have been spread by contaminated irrigation water, but it could also have been from other causes, including workers relieving themselves in the fields. At this time the important factor is in pinpointing the source of the outbreak to allow farmers to take more effective security measures.