ANOTHER RECALL OF BAGGED SPINACH BECAUSE OF SALMONELLA

Another recall of its bagged spinach has just been announced by Fresh Express. Testing turned up Salmonella bacteria in a sample. A deja-vu. This huge company has had so many recalls, and several have involved spinach. So much for clean and safe ready-to-eat greens.

I was in a large supermarket just two days ago, checking the produce aisle, when I overheard a conversation between one of the staff and a customer. The customer was asking whether she had to wash the bagged (yes, Fresh Express) spinach. "Oh no, said the young woman helping her. This is perfectly safe as it has been thoroughly washed. Washing will only make it soggy and be bad for you." I wonder if that was one of the contaminated bags.

But would washing it again help? Maybe, maybe not. The experts - including government ones - are divided in their opinions. Bacteria can get right inside. (So can radioisotopes from radiation, by the way, as found in Japan). But no, if you feel better giving the spinach another rinse or two or three, as long as the water you use is clean, it certainly won't contaminate the spinach.

Incidentally, I was asked at a recent book reading event for The Safe Food Handbook in San Francisco, if I ever bought bagged spinach. I had to confess that I sometimes did. But I added that I cooked it, which is true. (That will usually deal with any pesky Salmonella).

By the way, here are the details on the latest recall: Fresh Express 9 oz. Bag Spinach with Product Codes starting with H081 and H082, UPC Code of 7127913204 and Use-by Dates of April 6 and 7.

TSF

CONTAMINATED SPINACH AND MILK NEAR JAPAN'S NUCLEAR PLANT

It was simply a matter of time. As I have been arguing for the past few days, the spread of fairly high levels of radiation in Japan will contaminate growing food. And, I said that the experience of Chernobyl suggested that vegetables like leafy greens and milk would be first to be affected. I was right.

Today Associated Press, Reuters and other news sources reported that the levels of radiation contamination found in spinach and milk on farms near the affected nuclear plant (some as far as 60 miles away) now exceed government safety levels. Further tests are being done and shipments of food from the area may be stopped and people advised not to eat them.

If that does happen, the same thing could occur as did after the Chernobyl: the food will be sold informally and eaten locally anyway, in spite of government warnings. Why? Because there is food scarcity in many disaster-affected places. People who are faced with a choice between hunger and the risk of a little toxic food, will often opt for the latter.

The good news is that a few meals will be unlikely to affect them. But eating it over a period of time - say a year - could do so, especially in the case of children, and with people also exposed to radiation directly.

TSF

Who's Right About the Salmonella?

We have had another one of those incidents. FDA's laboratories have turned up dangerous bacteria in a food product, and the responsible food company says that its own testing didn't find any. It happens all the time - peanut butter, spices, lettuce, ground beef...Who is right? Of course, we tend to believe the government (sometimes, that is) and we tend to distrust the profit-focused public-health neglecting food industry. But they could both be right.

In the case in May, 2010, the suspect product was bagged spinach, distributed by Organicgirl, based in Salinas, California. Organicgirl (slogan - "good clean greens") is a USDA certified organic company with a devoted customer base (just read the facebook raves). It not only has "mother earth" in charge, but even uses 100% recycled plastic. "Most" of the greens it sells come from California and Arizona (where do the rest come from? Mexico?) and it tries to minimize food miles (all the way to Alabama). It also triple washes everything (maybe even quadruple washing, if you count that extra spraying).

But on May 27 Organicgirl had to admit that just possibly, one of its products was contaminated by Salmonella bacteria - lovely bagged baby spinach. The spinach had been distributed to California, Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Alabama. The Best-if-used-by date was May 22 (a full week earlier). The company statement read: "organicgirl raw product testing records for the relevant time period did not show the presence of any pathogens." But the FDA's did, so it had to recall some 336 cases of expired (very likely to now be consumed) spinach.
So what happened? My guess is the following - and I am only guessing. Very small numbers of Salmonella bacteria were present when the company first did its testing, so the tests turned up negative. But, over the next few days - maybe even weeks, while on the road and in the store, the bacteria multiplied. Maybe just 3 or 4 Salmonella in a bag had become 3,000 or 4,000 or more. By the time the FDA sample was taken (apparently from a store), there were large enough numbers of Salmonella bacteria present to be show up in the tests. The chances are that my theory is right.

The lesson for us consumers - the fresher, the better. If the bacteria are below the numbers needed for an infective dose - maybe 1,000 to 10,000 of them, we may not get sick. Check the dates.

Bon appetit!
TSF