No More Bagged Spinach

This post in the LA Times this morning makes me think it is going to be a long time before I buy bagged spinach or lettuce again. It isn't just the E. coli. It sounds like the food is being grown in a sewer and then cleansed with bleach:

Monterey County's Salinas Valley is one of the world's most intensely farmed regions and a major supplier of lettuce and spinach to the nation. The current outbreak of food poisoning marks the 20th time since 1995 that the dangerous E. coli strain has been linked to lettuce or spinach.

The source of the pathogen has not yet been pinpointed, but tainted water is considered a likely culprit.

Many creeks and streams near the region's spinach fields, including the Salinas River, Gabilan Creek, Towne Creek, Tembladero Slough and Old Salinas River Estuary, are known to be carriers of the E. coli strain implicated in the food poisonings. When consumed, people experience cramping, diarrhea and, in severe cases, kidney failure.

Although the growers do not draw water from creeks to irrigate their fields, their crops could be tainted by runoff from nearby livestock operations or Central Coast urban areas.

"What is troublesome with this particular watershed is that it has low-lying land in agricultural production, and flooding certainly occurs in the lower portions. If we have high levels of E. coli in surface waters and they are flooded onto fields, that is certainly a potential source of contamination," Rose said.

Only one waterway in the lower Salinas River watershed does not violate federal E. coli standards, and it is in a state park, surrounded by natural land. Some waterways are so contaminated they contain 12,000 or more organisms per 100 milliliters of water — 30 times the Environmental Protection Agency's standard. Ingesting just a few organisms can make a person sick.

E. coli is ubiquitous in the environment because it is found in the intestines of every species of warm-blooded animal. Wherever there is feces, whether bird, human, cow, or dog, there is E. coli. "The presence of E. coli in water is a strong indication of recent sewage or animal waste contamination," said Dale Kemery, spokesman for the EPA's Office of Water.

Packagers take great care to destroy bacteria on greens, washing lettuce or spinach in baths of water, chlorine and citric acid before spinning it dry and sealing it in plastic bags.