Well duh!! As a retired Science teacher, I am repeatedly disgusted at the "westernized" habit of having to explain all problems with just one source or one cause. the spinach E.coli outbreak is probably from several sources. I speculate that it is from irrigation water and runoff, plus the rinsing water used to wash the spinach. Remember the bacteria is ON THE SURFACE of the vegetables. (My degree is in Bacteriology)

Well I will keep eating spinach, with caution of course by washing it thoroughly. It happens to be my favorite vegtable, and I refuse to worry whether I'm going to sick every time I open a bag of lettuce or shpinach. That would be like not living at all.

Boy...between what I'd previously heard about the spinach e.coli outbreak and some of what I've read here, I'm glad I hate spinach.

P.S. to Trevor--
Absolutely agree with you about our friend spinach. In terms of nasty actors in "conspiracy theories", then the question might be "who benefits?" In my scenario of Big Agra against California farmers, of course they would benefit. But our Food and Drug Administration absolutely hates anything that might actually be healthy for a person, because the immense Big Pharma would then lose profits. Thank you, Trevor, my scenario is complete. "Qui bono?" Who benefits?

Spinach is not the only food. 157:H7 has also showed up in strawberries, in milk, cheeses, ground beef, (there was a big McDonald's scandal over contaminated beef some years ago) other leafy greens, orchard fruits, etc over the decades. I think even some certified raw milk got pulled recently. As said before, cases have occured swimming in natural water, and as miserable as the disease is, the greatest danger is dehydration which is medically manageable.

Yeah, "terrorists" as the quintessential catchall bogey-man. In disaster scenario theory it is possible to do anything, poison the food supply, water supply, sneak into food processing sheds and plants. About 20-30 years ago, some sicko managed to actually add poison to some bottles of aspirin or aceteminophren (like Tylenol) at the plant before it was shipped to stores. There were some deaths. That started the whole tamper-proof packaging thing, and rightfully so. Anything is possible in terms of industrial espionage and psychopaths, and don't think our military-industrial strength government is squeaky clean, honorable and above it all in terms of dirty tricks and treating people like at-large populations of lab animals.

For one thing, many of the California farmers are independents working together through farm cooperatives, some are still family-owned and not what is typically thought of as mega-agribusiness. These farmers have spent decades resisting hostile efforts and regulations designed to run them out of the farming business so big Agra can take over the Central Valley lands, which are some of the richest in the world. Might not it also be possible that elements of big Agra, with their extensive ties in the food and drug industries, could contaminate batches of the products from the cooperatives to discredit the independents and make them lose business?

Midnite TV--I moved from Silicon Valley 15 years ago. My oncologist once told me that SCV has probably the most evil water in the world, as most is pulled up from the underground water tables that are perked down from the reservoirs and ponds. For one thing, Almaden reservoir is built on and around old mercury mines which leeches down. Decades ago there were warnings not to eat much fish from some of the reservoirs, and that was before SCV went from agricultural to growing silicon chips. Germ-wise, SCV water is heavily treated, but there is really no knowing what chemical contamination there is. The water utility company can show that there are only so many parts per million ppm of this chemical, and ppm of that, and ppm of something else that fall within "safe guidelines" by themselves, but no one can seem to answer how many ppm's are too much when combined together. Up here in Redding, we fought mandatory water floridation, deciding we already had enough ppm's of everything.

Cheers

Dear Mr. Hattori,
Thank you for a good story and your research. It should be made clear that this strain of E. coli is simply a more virulent, and not necessarily "deadly" strain of E. coli bacteria, as in somehow always "fatal". To date nationwide, there have been about 61 people affected by this latest particular outbreak, one person has died and about 16 people have sustained a serious related kidney complications from the infection. Unlike botulin which makes an actual toxin, 157:H7 causes severe hemorragic diahrrea from embedding in the intestinal lining and eroding it, the major danger of which is severe rapid dehydration, which is why young children and the elderly are at particular risk. They dehydrate faster, which can shut down the kidneys.

The Oklahoma website I checked reported that overall statistical average in their state for reported 157:H7 infections is 3 out of 100,000 people, or .00005%.

Symptoms set in in 1-3 days. Most people recover in 5-10 days, usually with no further interventions other than to increase fluids, sometimes by IV, to make up for the losses from the diahrrea and prevent dehydration. Extreme dehydration can affect the kidneys which does require hospitalization. However, 157:H7 infection is highly manageable medically. It is most likely that the one person who has died in this outbreak probably succumbed to the dehydration as an infection-induced complication, and not the organism itself.

Food contact is not the only vector. Oklahoma reports that in their state, most of their infection outbreaks are waterborn, with peak numbers of about 25-40 a month during the summer when people go swimming in lakes and rivers. The count drops to three or four in the winter, maybe from contaminated wells. Think about haw many thousands of people probably swam in those same waters and didn't get sick.

The question should be rephrased: Of all the hundreds and perhaps thousands of people who did buy and consume this batch of spinach before the recall, how come there are actually so few victims? Could it be that they are just healthier and more resistant?

As a serious illness, can it be fatal? Certainly, especially in the individuals most at risk, like the elderly, young children, people weakened with chronic health problems and diseases. So is salmonella, and botulism, other food-born pathogens, and other organisms that can cause dysenteries.

How many people succumb every year to the "ordinary" types of influenza in the US? 25,000? 40,000? How about pneumonia? How many people die in hospitals due to "medical errors" [100,000?], or to nosocomial infections--that is virulent super-strains of staph, strep and other infections found in hospitals? How many cases of "super TB" are now in the US? How many people die from drunk drivers in a year? 10,000?25,000? Seriously, most people don't want to know what dangerous germs can be commonly found under the average person's fingernails. How many people actually use a nailbrush when handwashing?

Let's keep things in proportion. All this looks like is yet another sensationalizing and fear-mongering bid to tighten the federal hand around everyone's neck, in view that the farmers are already in voluntary compliance with presumably the USDA recommendations as the investigations have so far proven. No fault can be found in procedures voluntarily followed, but things have got to be tweaked anyway. California independent farmers are truly the best in the world and love their work (but then, I am a native Californian and very biased.)

Government doesn't know where the contamination actually broke out and how it was vectored, but blame the farmers and ruin their reputations anyway, with the help of sensationalizing news reports. Farmers follow best practices as proven by the negative results in the field, workers follow food hygiene standards and it doesn't show up in the packing houses, yet best practice is not good enough, it's the farmers' fault so tighten up the screws anyway. Just blame someone and make it seem like something real is being done.

Piped the story into 200 million TV sets across the land, the common perception is the problem is enormous and just outside the door as yet another imminent epidemic.

Mandatory federal law will, of course, magically be the cure-all for the baffling complicating problem, where voluntary compliance to the same guidelines have not. Oh, puhleez. Let's outlaw swimming in Oklahoma while we are at it. Even better, outlaw any outdoor swimming and water recreation everywhere just in case, and confine swimming to controlled, over-chlorinated swimming pools.

The truth is, one germ on one leaf is impossible to find. Millions have to have already started growing among populations of other millions of other organisms while doing field research in order to be picked up in preliminary microbiology culturing technique called "streak plating". The practical theory is to streak a test sample with a special pre-sterilized tool across a growing medium with the idea that just one microbe is deposited, and then starts forming its own pure colony isolated from other organisms. On a first streak plate, there will be a variety of different germ colonies with distinctive features. Suspected colonies can then be re-streaked again on different plates. There may be a special culture medium nutritionally attractive to only E. coli 157:H7 which would save a lot of time isolating it from all of the various strains of E. coli. To give an idea of just how exacting finding a million bacteria dispersed in a ton of spinach, a colony that is barely visible to the naked eye as a pinpoint on a culture plate already has a billion or so microbes.

All creatures with a digestive tract, you, me, earthworms, insects carry around E. coli of which there are hundreds of sub-strains, along with other beneficial microscopic flora and fauna in the gut necessary for digestive health and function. E. coli lives and functions in the colon itself and is a necessary part of digestion in the natural order of things.

157:H7 is not transmitted as an air-born pathogen. It is an accidentally opportunist organism that has to be ingested. The general vector of the 157:H7 strain of E. coli is often attributed as indigenous to cattle and other ruminants, populations of which vary from animal to animal, but like all E. coli, it is also indigenous as a soil bacteria spore along with millions of other strains of organism spores in every square foot of dirt. In a normal and healthy free-ranging animal which picks up a healthy and balanced gut-colony of soil bacteria as it grazes (like Lactobacillus, other E. coli, etc), 157:H7 is usually an insignificant proportion of the total E. coli population, kept in check by overall bacterial competition in the cow's gut if the cow has a normal and healthy colony. Feed-lot cattle over-crowded into pens and knee-deep in their own manure don't pick up the beneficial competetive strains of soil bacteria as they would in free-range; are exposed to more 157:H7 from over-crowding; and are given antibiotic dosing which kills off the beneficial gut flora and fauna. Except for E. coli which simply turns into a spore resistant to just about everything. Once the antibiotic wears off, then the critters re-populate in greater concentration. Probably because the 157:H7 multiplies faster in absence of the other competing organisms, becomes more dominant in the cow's gut, and more concentrated in the manure in feed lots. It is after all still a beneficial organism to the cow whose gut lining is much tougher than a human's meant to break down stalks and stems.

Could it be that the intensive and concentrated cattle feed, usually made from "animal by-products" then fed to strictly herbivore animals, meant to accelerate the growth of the animals in feed-lots might actually also contribute to the growth problem of 157:H7?

Next that raw feedlot manure is hauled away for chemical fertilizer processing. Farmers used to naturally compost the manure themselves, which when properly done, sterilizes the manure of parasites and pathogens and reincorporates beneficial soil organisms, but composting takes time. All E. coli strains form into hardened spores as a survival mechanism when outside the optimal conditions of the gut--food, moisture and warmth. The dried spores can survive for many, many years in soil or dried cow patties. In a good, natural "hot" compost pile, the sustained heat eventually kills most of the spore concentrations off. I don't know if manufactured fertilizers from manure kill the spores off or not, or if it is carried along with nitrogen fertilizers, or what.

If present in the soil itself as spores in different concentrations, could it be possible that applications of concentrated chemical nitrogen fertilizers as part of an intensive farming practice to keep production up along with soil irrigation itself causes a sudden spurt of growth of 157:H7 in the soil ahead of its competitors? Good soil itself along with plants is a complex ecosystem all of it's own with natural checks and balances in terms of microbes and other organisms, as every gardener probably knows. Could the problem of 157:H7 actually be a sign of farming soils that while they are productive through intensive artificial means, are actually barren as a naturally balanced ecosystem?

If there are no clear answers "out there" on the farms, then for the home, the problem can be reduced to that of incubation, of which plastic bags are natural incubators. Spinach, or other vegetables, provide the food and ambient moisture along with what moisture is left from pre-washing. All it takes is a few minutes of warmth here and there once packaged and boxed, from shipping to the stores, to stocking the shelves, to riding around in a shopping basket, to a ride home in a warm car to provide an optimum environment for any growth. Refrigeration only retards growth. If there is 157:H7 present in the product, maybe it just takes off faster than its fellow micro-fauna.

Pre-washing and plastic bags gives a false sense of security. The most exacting hygienic standards still does not mean that food is clinically "sterile". It would be impossible. They should be soaked and rinsed again--the idea being that most of the germs just slide off, then chilled to retard growth. I generally feel that prewashing before shipping may actually be detrimental, in that vegetables and greens [organic ones anyway] have a natural patina of benign organisms like lactobacillus and bifidus that may actually act as a competitive barrier to undesirable ones, something like the white bloom that is on grapes and cabbages. So, I buy unpackaged spinach bunches which have been exposed to air, even if they have a bit of grit, and give them a bath before storing in the fridge.

The outbreak is reported in several states, which should not be taken as some kind of epidemic lurking everywhere. The multi-state outbreaks occur only because of the mass distribution network shipped from any particular local sources.

As a chronic cancer victim with a compromised immune system, for years I've soaked my vegetables and fruits for 10 minutes in a sink full of cold water with either 2 1/2 tsp of Clorox bleach [1/2 tsp per gallon of water--a tip from a military family that lived over seas] OR about 1/4 cup distilled vinegar added; soak again for 10 minutes in cold water as a rinse, and let them air dry before storing in the fridge. Of course, this is not convenient, and that is what pricey, pre-washed, packaged spinach is for--consumer convenience.

Before looking to the government for any permanent answers, which would be one no one likes anyway and wouldn't work, there are a couple of things a person can do at home to help protect themselves. First, the spinach can be cooked or steamed if there is some doubt. 160 degrees for a couple of minutes will kill the E. coli.

Secondly, spend some time at a health food store learning about natural gut health including the beneficial critters found in naturally fermented foods like yogurt, miso, natural saurkraut, kim chee, etc. Many Americans do not have a healthy balance of gut organisms because due to antibiotics and bad diet, yet "probiotics" researchers are finding that having such is actually the first step in immune defenses. While I can't say that that this would actually prevent the 157:H7 from embedding in human intestinal tissue and eroding it which is what it does causing the hemorrages, it is also an opportunist. If there are healthy colonies of already present in the intestine, then the 157:H7 logically should have a much more difficult time planting itself.

The benefits of a healthy diet in terms of immune resistance should go without saying. Aristotle once said "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food." After all, a headache is not due to a deficiency of aspirin.

The third thing that people can do is simply spend a few minutes studying the nature of this statistcally uncommon, though serious infection on any public health websites just for reassurance and information, what the usual lab tests for diagnosis and medical interventions are used, and to get an idea of just how survivable and medically manageable a contracted 157:H7 infection is.

I'll pick another green veggie thank you. Yet better just grow your own spinach at least you'll know it's healthy. I don't trust FDA their paid to say anything. Out here in California the media even suggested Al Queada might be behind the E Coli outbreak. Blame game on everything looks like even the official offices of the government are following the White House policy blame everything on Al Queada.

They don't know where the source of the E.coli is coming from? Sure they do. Livestock farm animals. The problem is the FDA is taking handouts from the billion dollar meat industry. This factor will go ignored to protect the meat industry, and in the process, this cover-up will continue to smear more sustainible and envrionmentally responsible methods of agriculture like the farming of produce.
www.broken-nation.blogspot.com

E. Coli outbreak or not, we would all do well to remember that spinach is one of the healthiest foods possible for human consumption. It is a literal multi-vitamin and mineral formula, combined with the highest protein content of any plant food, a wide range of other phytonutrients and omega 3 essential fatty acids. Spinach has scientifically proven health benefits that improve brain function, vision, fight cancer, increase your skin's natural SPF level, reduce the risks of birth defects, act as an anti-aging agent and much more, as explained at http://www.SpinachWords.com

In regards to E. Coli (or other contaminants), choose organically grown spinach where available. Even if organically grown spinach is not available, you can reduce and almost entirely eliminate your risks very simply. If eating cooked spinach, you are safe. Cooking kills the bacteria. If you are eating raw spinach, wash it thoroughly before use.

The early surprise (at least for me) was the revelation that no amount of washing would make the spinach safe because the E. coli was actually *in* the leafs.

So now we know that it can happen to spinach - but what other fruits and/or vegetables are prone to this kind of E. coli attack?

People (mostly on fear-mongering talk radio) have suggested that terrorists could kill millions by tainting the agriculture system with food-borne agents. Just how realistic is this? How long would it take to detect an attack?

Finally, many of us here in Santa Clara county are beginning to suspect the water. What assurances do we really have that the water we drink, or the water we make the crops drink is safe?

What I see from your news footage is acres and acres of spinach. What I don't see are portable toilets.

If the farm hands are paid by the bushels then taking a long walk to the toilets and the return to the field could mean loss dollars for the workers. This gives them the incentive to eliminate bodily waste in the fields and using spinach leaves as toilet paper. What's more their hands becomes contaminated with E. coli spreading it to other bushels.