250 Cartons Of Lettuce Missing

7 Western States Are Searched, In Recall Because Of E.Coli Caution

(AP)  It's unlikely the bacteria in the lettuce fields shares a source with the E. coli found in spinach packaged by Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista.

The dangerous form of the bacteria linked to the spinach recall can be found in animal and human feces. It can be transmitted to produce through contaminated water, inadequate hygiene on the farm or processing plant, and wild or domesticated animals wandering into fields. It can proliferate on raw produce, unpasteurized milk or juice, or raw meat.

Healthy adults generally recover from contamination within days with few consequences, but some may develop long-term kidney problems. Children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk for serious health problems or death.

An elderly woman in Nebraska, a 2-year-old boy in Idaho and an elderly Wisconsin woman have died from E. coli infections after eating tainted spinach.

The lettuce recall comes in the wake of several recent recalls of certain brands of packaged spinach, carrot juice, beef and unpasteurized milk found to be tainted with bacteria that can cause anything from a mild indisposition to serious illnesses and death.

The industry is working on a safety plan they expect to present shortly to the FDA, and which they believe will make such outbreaks less likely, farm representatives said.

In the meantime, they said Nunes did the right thing by pulling their products off the shelf.

"We recognize that this precautionary recall may raise concerns, but this is precisely the type of action required by the industry when a grower, packer or processor suspects something may have occurred not in keeping with good agricultural practices," said Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association, in a statement Monday.

Although food-borne illnesses have been making headlines recently, experts say it is important to remember that thousands of pounds of fresh greens are produced and consumed safely in the country. Increased scrutiny stemming from these outbreaks will only increase the precautions taken by the industry, they said.

"This is all an education for us," Nunes said. "We're going to get better and better at it."

[boston1954]

I doubt seriously if that is terrorism. They would be more likely to put poison in a reservoir in order to kill many thousands instead of one or two.

[howehowse-2009]

Anyone paranoid enough to check to find out if the eColi contamination of food supply is terrorist related?

During the big flu scare last year, that was a subject brought up. So many bugs Americans are not exposed to normally that are being brought back by our soldiers.

[holtfg]

We all are at risk from foods we buy because many of the vegetables are grown on sewage and industrial sludge applied lands (municipal waste treatment plants either give the sewage sludge to farmers or pay them to take it) OR many farms use the effluent from waste water treatment plants for irrigation of food crops. Recent EPA studies show that lab tests conducted at waste water treatment plants often cannot culture bacteria. Yet when the sewage sludge is loaded for delivery to the farm, samples taken show rampant regrowth of E. coli and other bacteria.

This waste has been described as a concentrated toxic mix of chemicals, heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, etc., bacteria, viruses, ova, parasites and intestinal worms and even prescription drugs. The best resource to learn more is from Cornell Waste Management Institute who has studied the EPA regulations that allows municipal waste to be put on farmlands.

Rep. Jose Serrano of NY has been trying for over 10 years to get Congress to implemnt more protective changes to identify foods grown on sewage sludge lands and now we need to worry about irrigation of the foods from the effluent from the waste water treatment plants too!!

So why hasn't Clinton and Schumer supported Rep. Serrano before now to get this before Congress?

Contact your Congress Representative or Senator now. It is the only way to protect our food supply.