Don't eat your spinach! Last week, U.S. health officials warned consumers to avoid bagged raw spin-ach after an outbreak of E. coli bacteria sickened people in at least twenty states.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes that the bug was spread when people ate bagged fresh spinach. By last Friday, officials had not been able to pinpoint a specific growing region or brand of spinach. "We're advising people not to eat it," says Dr. David Acheson of the FDA.
E. coli causes diarrhea, vomiting and cramps. Usually people recover from the infection in five to ten days. In some people, especially very young children and the elderly, the bug causes a severe complication. One person in Wisconsin died from the infection last week.
E. coli is ordinarily found in the intestines of healthy cattle. The bacteria causes an estimated 73,000 cases of infection in the U.S. each year.
To avoid infection, it is important to cook food, especially hamburgers, thoroughly. Drink only pasteurized milk and juice. Hand-washing after bathroom visits is also important.
On Friday, an FDA official warned that simply washing the spinach won't work. "If you wash it, it is not going to get rid of [the bacteria]," says Robert Brackett.