Anniversary of an outbreak
Tomorrow marks one year since E. coli-contaminated spinach was harvested from a field in California's Salinas Valley. One month from today will mark a year from the date US health officials - the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control - confirmed that that spinach was the source of a nationwide E. coli outbreak, and announced that all bagged spinach products were being recalled for possible E. coli contamination.
Earthbound Farms, which is the largest producer of gourmet salad greens, hired food safety microbiologist Mansour Samadpour to set up a testing lab just days after the outbreak was traced to the company's products. Dr. Samadpour instituted a testing regimen that is the most aggressive in the leafy greens industry. All products are now checked for pathogens when they arrive at the processing plant and when they are through processing.
