In response to a nationwide E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to contaminated spinach, produce industry leaders held a recent meeting to address industry concerns and to discuss what is likely impending legislation if the industry does not find a solution to produce contamination soon.
According to the Capital Press, Dr. Robert Brackett, director of Center
The Associated Press is reporting that a five-yearold Madison County, Kentucky, child is hospitalized at Kentucky Children’s Hospital with complications of an E. coli O157:H7 infection.
Haley Caldwell is on a ventilator. Her 18-month-old sister was also ill with an E. coli infection, and was hospitalized at Lexington Hospital, but has since recovered.
The Associated Press reported today that FDA and California Department of Health investigators believe they have found three potential sources of the spinach E. coli outbreak: Wild pigs, cattle, and contaminated water.
Samples taken from a wild pig, as well as from stream water and cattle on the ranch, have tested positive for the same
CBS 11 TV in Dallas reported that David Corbin, an executive at Forth Worth-based Sadex Corporation, recently ate a E. coli-contaminated spinach that had been irradiated.
An FDA spokesman said the agency actively works on petitions by the Food Processors Association to use irradiation for ready-to-eat foods and does not discuss open petitions.
Mr.
Milwaukee NBC affiliate, TMJ4, reported on their investigation into whether spinach now on the shelves in Wisconsin supermarkets is safe and free of pathogenic bacteria.
The investigation did not uncover any E. coli or other bacteria on spinach sampled from Milwaukee stores, but consumers are still skeptical about whether they should eat bagged spinach and
Ellen Kanner with the Sun-Herald points out that fresh produce may not always be stored below 41 degrees fahrenheit to prevent spoilage and the growth of pathogenic bacteria, the outbreak problem is not the temperature at which fresh produce is stored. It is that produce is contaminated in the first place.
While the CDC, FDA
The Chetek Alert reports that Barron County health officials believe that people who became ill with E. coli infections may have become ill after eating at a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity.
Barron County Health Officer Kaye Thompson and Randy Wilson, Barron County Sanitarian, are asking that any person that participated in the fund-raising dinner
The Redding, California, newspaper has reported that another California resident has been confirmed to be ill with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 as that which was recalled by Natural Selections Foods.
Shasta County Public Health officials confirmed the illness as part of the outbreak, but would not disclose the outlet where the victim
HometownAnnapolis.com reports that Maryland health officials have confirmed two more E. coli O157:H7 cases as having the same genetic fingerprint as the strain of E. coli linked to the spinach outbreak.
Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s announcement also addressed the death of June Dunning, an elderly woman from Haggerstown. Seattle law firm Marler-Clark