Spinach: Allah's poison?

E. Coli...very much in the news lately due to contaminated spinach. but ask yourself: why so many states (21 last cnn report i heard), and why has it been shoved to the back burner while the number of those sickened keeps rising?

the FDA knows why:

source
The hazard characterization analyzes the magnitude of the risk (i.e., the severity and duration of adverse effects), using reports of foodborne disease caused by unintentional contamination. Such reports are relevant to an analysis of both inadvertently and deliberately introduced hazards, because many of the pathogens that historically have been linked to unintentional food contamination, such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp., were identified by the CDC as "critical" agents for food terrorism.

this is from a 2001 report entitled "Risk Assessment for Food Terrorism and Other Food Safety Concerns."

it is MHO that this is a terrorist event and the government doesnt want you to know it, because it will be a win for the forces of terror.

As part of those activities, FDA assessed the risk to, and vulnerability of, the U.S. food supply to an act of terrorism.(2) However, most of those assessments contain classified information. To promote transparency, FDA prepared this publicly available assessment of the risks to public health of a terrorist attack on the food supply and of serious illness due to inadvertent food contamination.

IOW, when it comes to pass, we dont want the public to know exactly what the signs are.

Most of the foodborne biological agents identified by CDC were classified as "Category B" agents because they are moderately easy to disseminate and cause moderate morbidity and low mortality. The Category B biological agents include Salmonella spp., Shigella dysenteriae, E. coli O157:H7, and ricin.

anyone else think i'm on to something, or am i just delusional?



[edit on 19-9-2006 by snafu7700]

Industry has created a new molecular world, where diseases are mutating and evolving in leaps and bounds.

Terrorists are NOT required. Mother nature has the ball.

And the court is corporate. It's all about money, not God or Allah.

sofi, you'd probably know this.. but is frozen spinach and homegrown spinach also a threat of having the ecoli bacteria or just the bagged stuff?

and no I don't think this is terror related, if Muslims extremists were to target our food supply, I doubt that spinach would be high on their list, Americans much rather eat junkfood than spinach, so meat, fast food, and junk food would probably be their choice of target.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
sofi, you'd probably know this.. but is frozen spinach and homegrown spinach also a threat of having the ecoli bacteria or just the bagged stuff?

and no I don't think this is terror related, if Muslims extremists were to target our food supply, I doubt that spinach would be high on their list, Americans much rather eat junkfood than spinach, so meat, fast food, and junk food would probably be their choice of target.

ww, I can answer only from peripheral experience. We took my mother and father out tonight for my mother's birthday. Went to a nice Italian restaurant nearby. I ordered chicken florentine. The chef came out and said "I don't know if you realize it but there is a moratorium on ALL spinach right now. If you would still like to have your chicken florentine, I will fix it for you, but it will not have spinach."

Also, they've started plowing under all the spinach fields in California.

My son and my mother stated they had both heard today that it was ALL spinach - canned, fresh, cooked, whatever.

I just think it's what happens when you rely on companies to make your food.

Just look at the natural goodness that Cadbury's put into it's chocolate this summer:

yum yum!

They *knew* about their dodgy pipeline for a good while before they deigned to do anything about it - something to do with statistical probabilities of causing disease with an acceptable degree of contamination - and it was only when epidemiologists traced outbreaks back to the factory that something happened.

It's the unregulated profit motive that gets you ever time, not muslims. )

TD

thanks val, I have home grown and store bought frozen spinach in my freezer, guess I should dump it.

why take the chance...but I so love spinach dip and spinach with shrimp.

Seventy percent of the spinich is grown about an hour from where I am sitting so tis causing quite a stir as you can imagine.

Here is what the CDC is saying

CDC Advice for Consumers
The following is advice for consumers about this outbreak:

Currently, we are advising consumers to not eat any fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach that are consumed raw.


E. coli O157:H7 in spinach can be killed by cooking at 160° Fahrenheit for 15 seconds. (Water boils at 212° Fahrenheit.) If spinach is cooked in a frying pan, and all parts do not reach 160° Fahrenheit, all bacteria may not be killed. If consumers choose to cook the spinach, they should not allow the raw spinach to contaminate other foods and food contact surfaces, and they should wash hands, utensils, and surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after handling the spinach.


Persons who develop diarrhea after consuming fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach are urged to visit their health care provider and ask that their stool specimen be tested for E. coli O157.


Persons who ate fresh spinach or salad blends and feel well do not need to see a health care provider.

www.cdc.gov...

ww,

From what Fred's sharing, it looks like if you just boil the piss out of it, you'll be okay. Maybe the restaurants either can't get any spinach at all....or are so puckered up over making some one sick, they are passing on the chance.

My local news station just reported the source of the e.coli outbreak, apparently it was an organic farm brand from california. They laid off massive amounts of workers and hand to destroy all thier crops. I feel sorry for the workers.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
and no I don't think this is terror related, if Muslims extremists were to target our food supply, I doubt that spinach would be high on their list,

could very well have something to do with this:

source
Today, the United States and the Netherlands are among the largest commercial producers of spinach.

if you are having trouble attacking high visibility targets, go for the low visibility with a wide distribution.



[edit on 19-9-2006 by snafu7700]

according to cnn's ticker, colorado just became the 22nd state to confirm e.coli contamination. that's almost half of the country folks. when was the last time that a natural outbreak occurred in that large an area?

[edit on 19-9-2006 by snafu7700]

I hate when this stuff starts happening. I just hope it's prophecy that's wrong, and just some sick farmer's family somewhere.

Originally posted by snafu7700
anyone else think i'm on to something, or am i just delusional?

Well worth the thought snafu,if thinking along those line makes one delusional then there are many delusional proffesionals because they have considered it as well.

The agency does not consider the current contamination deliberate.

“There is always a question in the back of our mind whether it may have been a deliberate attack on the food supply,” said Dr. David Acheson of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Currently, there is nothing in the epidemiology to consider this deliberate.”

State and federal officials have traced the current outbreak to a California company’s fresh spinach, but they have not pinpointed the source of the bacteria that have killed one person and sickened at least 113.
source

PS snafu i enjoyed the cigar,much to my Mrs shock,i was like "but but snafu just had a baby boy"She-"Oh"







[edit on 20-9-2006 by gps777]

I do believe homegrown is still safe if you have it. I have read that there was a problem where the spinach was grown with the fields flooding frequently and that the flood waters were contaminad with E-Coli. Also that this was warned about in a report a few years back. Sorry I didn't save the source.

I am more suspicious about the reports on the news regarding the organic nature of the spinach, everytime they air an update they show a bag of spinach clearly marked organic. However (again, sorry I don't have the link) I read that in fact there are no cases so far linked to the organic spinach. The spinach in question was grown on a farm that supplied both organic and non-organic spinach, obviously in separate fields with distinct differences. I will see if I can dig up some links about these issues.


[edit on 9/20/2006 by Relentless]

[edit on 9/20/2006 by Relentless]

Okay, here's one, I can't believe I am having so much trouble finding this, I just read it a day or so ago.

Spinach growers warned last year

Just 10 months before fresh spinach started sending people to the hospital, state and federal officials warned Salinas Valley growers and packers to clean up their act after a decade of deadly E. coli bacteria breakouts.

In November 2005, the FDA sent a letter to growers, packers, processors and shippers warning them to improve produce safety.

After a decade of E. coli breakouts! See? Who needs terrorists? Wish I could find a copy of that letter.



Here's More

In 2004 and again in 2005, the FDA's top food safety official warned California farmers they needed to do more to increase the safety of the fresh leafy greens they grow.

"In light of continuing outbreaks, it is clear that more needs to be done," the FDA's Robert Brackett wrote in a Nov. 4, 2005, letter.

Suggested actions included discarding any produce that comes into contact with floodwaters. Rivers and creeks in the Salinas watershed are known to be periodically contaminated with E. coli, Brackett said.

This was just a disastor waiting to happen and obviously a known problem since 2004.



[edit on 9/20/2006 by Relentless]

FOUND IT!

Here's the letter folks, and it's not specifically directed at spinach either.

November 4, 2005

This letter is intended to make you aware of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) serious concern with the continuing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens. We also outline below what we plan to do and the actions that we expect your industry will take to enhance the safety of these products.

On February 5, 2004, FDA issued a letter to the lettuce and tomato industries to make them aware of our concerns regarding continuing outbreaks associated with these two commodities and to encourage these industries to review their practices in light of FDA's GAPs/GMPs guidance and other available guidance.

You will also find links to the following in the one posted above:

"Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fruits and Vegetables." (1998)

2004 Produce Safety Action Plan




[edit on 9/20/2006 by Relentless]

Originally posted by Relentless
I am more suspicious about the reports on the news regarding the organic nature of the spinach, everytime they air an update they show a bag of spinach clearly marked organic.

Just a far-flung thought here, but have there been any scientific reports from the bio-tech industries creating GM pathogen resistant spinach/salad-leaf crops? Now would be an ideal opportunity to introduce them into the market, after a national health-scare involving 'organically grown' produce

Heaven forbid! But I wouldn't put it past them at this point.

One has to wonder why this negligence went so far.

[edit on 9/20/2006 by Relentless]

thanks for the replies regarding my questions and thanks for the info Relentless

side note... on the Colbert Report last night, Steve joked about eating "Soylent Green" instead of spinach...

Originally posted by timski
Just a far-flung thought here, but have there been any scientific reports from the bio-tech industries creating GM pathogen resistant spinach/salad-leaf crops? Now would be an ideal opportunity to introduce them into the market, after a national health-scare involving 'organically grown' produce

No. E. Coli is found on the OUTSIDE of the spinach leaves (after the farms were flooded by sewage). E. Coli doesn't actually get into the plant. It's not a predator/pest of spinach.

And besides, you don't want anything that destroys e coli getting into your system or it will destroy the e coli that you have which are living in their proper place -- your gut. Without them, you actually can't digest food properly and you'll be very very ill.