Bagged salad-Lengthy

RetromamaJess · 08-13-2006, 03:38 PM

Look at what someone just emailed me:

Salad Daze

Claim: Prepackaged salads may contain E. coli.

Status: True.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

FDA Issues Nationwide Health Alert on Dole Pre-Packaged Salads

DATELINE recently featured a segment on popular salad mixes being sold in plastic bags in supermarkets. The documentary highlighted the entire production process and disclosed that E-coli had been showing up in the bagged salad.

It has not been ascertained how the salad mix gets contaminated with E-coli, but serious illness and even deaths have been occurring in many states. One woman featured spoke about her child who had almost died after eating salad prepared from the mix and was ill for a long time after.

The public is warned not to buy any salad mix until the cause of the contamination has been determined.

The Dole Company has since recalled their product. For further information, check the MSNBC link below and click on "Launch" below the salad:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536902/

Origins: In May 2006, the warning quoted above began appearing in inboxes. It is a mixture of two items: an October 2005 warning from the Food and Drug Administration about E. coli found in prepackaged salads vended by Dole in the Minnesota area, and a 30 April 2006 NBC Dateline segment about that October 2005 outbreak and the potential for additional contaminations of similar nature.

Though thrown together from two sources, the e-mailed alert is accurate: E. coli was found in bagged salad mix in October 2005, and the FDA did issue a nationwide consumer alert about it. Dole Food Company recalled the implicated salad products, but even so 26 people who had eaten the contaminated greens became ill, with eight having to be hospitalized and one child developing a severe complication called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (in which red blood cells are destroyed and kidneys fail).

Escherichia coli are bacteria that live in the intestines of humans and animals. While most of its strains are harmless, one strain (O157:H7) produces a powerful toxin that results in severe illness in humans. E. coli gets into us through being swallowed; it rides in as part of a contaminated foodstuff, or through hand-to-mouth contact by people who have handled items laden with the bacteria, or through our swimming in water where the microbes are present. Such infections usually culminate in severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps, with the illness resolving in 5 to 10 days without treatment. However, in about 2% to 7% of infections (usually in children under 5 years of age and the elderly), the pathogen causes hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious and life-threatening condition in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys
fail.

Since 1995, 19 confirmed outbreaks have sickened 400 people nationwide and caused two deaths.

While raw and undercooked meat are the culprits that first come to mind as carriers of the bacteria, Dr. Steve Swanson of the Centers for Disease Control says: "Next to ground beef, lettuce is the most commonly implicated food item for E. coli 0157 infections." Unlike most other E. coli-bearing foodstuffs, lettuce is rarely eaten cooked, a process that normally kills the microorganisms.

Though the outbreak the FDA issued its warning about occurred in October 2005, they do not yet know how the potentially deadly bacteria came to be in those prepackaged salads. The lettuce was washed a number of times during processing, which tends to rule out the most obvious mode. One theory advocates the pathogen was absorbed into lettuce leaves through the plant's root system, the bacteria being picked up from contaminated groundwater. Alternatively, the microbe could have been in the plastic bags used to package the salads.

It is that uncertainty that prompted the warning about bagged salads: because the method of contamination in that October 2005 outbreak has not been pinned down, the potential for further illness from the same source cannot be eliminated. Rinsing "ready to eat" salads at home may not be an effective countermeasure if E. coli has managed to work itself into the leaves rather than sitting upon them, where it can be washed off. If the pathogen got into lettuce leaves via being pulled up through the plant's roots, all the washing in the world will not make lettuce safe to eat.

The e-mailed alert advocates swearing off packaged salads until the source of that October 2005 contamination has been isolated (which, in light of how much time has so far elapsed, one could reasonably conclude might well be never). Those who are super-cautious about matters relating to their family's health might wish to heed that suggestion. For those of slightly less cautious nature, Dateline NBC offered these tips on how to protect yourself from E. coli in lettuce:
But be sure you wash your hands before handling lettuce or any raw produce ... especially if you have been in contact with any raw meat.

Even though most of these bag salads are pre-washed and labeled "Ready to eat," experts say it doesn't hurt to wash it again.

Keep that salad refrigerated.

Check the expiration date before you eat it. Even if the lettuce looks good, you should know E.coli can grow quickly in greens that are deteriorating.
The Centers for Disease Control suggest the following ways to guard against ingesting E. coli:
Cook all ground beef and hamburger thoroughly. Because ground beef can turn brown before disease-causing bacteria are killed, use a digital instant-read meat thermometer to ensure thorough cooking. Ground beef should be cooked until a thermometer inserted into several parts of the patty, including the thickest part, reads at least 160°F. Persons who cook ground beef without using a thermometer can decrease their risk of illness by not eating ground beef patties that are still pink in the middle.

If you are served an undercooked hamburger or other ground beef product in a restaurant, send it back for further cooking. You may want to ask for a new bun and a clean plate, too.

Avoid spreading harmful bacteria in your kitchen. Keep raw meat separate from ready-to-eat foods. Wash hands, counters, and utensils with hot soapy water after they touch raw meat. Never place cooked hamburgers or ground beef on the unwashed plate that held raw patties. Wash meat thermometers in between tests of patties that require further cooking.

Drink only pasteurized milk, juice, or cider. Commercial juice with an extended shelf-life that is sold at room temperature (e.g., juice in cardboard boxes, vacuum sealed juice in glass containers) has been pasteurized, although this is generally not indicated on the label. Juice concentrates are also heated sufficiently to kill pathogens.

Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially those that will not be cooked. Children under 5 years of age, immunocompromised persons, and the elderly should avoid eating alfalfa sprouts until their safety can be assured. Methods to decontaminate alfalfa seeds and sprouts are being investigated.

Drink municipal water that has been treated with chlorine or other effective disinfectants.

Avoid swallowing lake or pool water while swimming.

Make sure that persons with diarrhea, especially children, wash their hands carefully with soap after bowel movements to reduce the risk of spreading infection, and that persons wash hands after changing soiled diapers. Anyone with a diarrheal illness should avoid swimming in public pools or lakes, sharing baths with others, and preparing food for others.
Barbara "foodborne in the U.S.A." Mikkelson

Here is the Dateline article that will be on tonight:
Unseen danger in bagged salads
E.coli in your veggies? At least 26 people in 3 states reportedly got sick
FREE VIDEO

• E.coli danger?
April 30: When it comes to eating greens, millions of Americans feel their best bet is in the bag -- getting bagged salad that's already cut and ready. But is an unseen danger lurking in your lettuce? Dateline Chief Consumer Affairs Correspodent Lea Thompson reports.
Dateline NBC

TIPS
How to protect yourself from E. coli in lettuce
— But be sure you wash your hands before handling lettuce or any raw produce...especially if you have been in contact with any raw meat.
— Even though most of these bag salads are pre-washed and labeled “Ready to eat,” experts say it doesn’t hurt to wash it again.
— Keep that salad refrigerated.
— Check the expiration date before you eat it. Even if the lettuce looks good, you should know E.coli can grow quickly in greens that are deteriorating.

MORE TIPS
• MSNBC.com: Avoiding foodborne illnesses
• CDC: On foodborne illnesses
• CDC: Food safety handling tips
• FDA on produce handling
By Lea Thompson
Chief consumer correspondent
NBC News
This report airs Dateline Sunday, 7 p.m.

Lea Thompson
Chief consumer correspondent

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Profile

For other people, it’s just a child strolling through the mall. But for 11-year-old Amber Brister, a trip to the mall is a very big deal. Amber is out of the hospital, and happy to be shopping again with her mom and sister.

Amber was a healthy child until last September, when she had a frightening brush with death.

Amber Brister: My stomach hurt really bad and I just didn’t feel good.

Her mother Lori Olson says suddenly and out of the blue, Amber became violently ill.

Lori Olson, Amber's mother: She had kidney failure. She had to have a tube inserted through her abdomen and she was hooked up to a dialysis machine for 24 hours a day for about 18 days.

Amber was gravely ill. She couldn’t eat solid foods, had to be fed intravenously, and needed four blood transfusions. Lori said the doctors told her there was a real chance amber could die.

Lori Olson: It was horrible. When she started the dialysis, there was one point that she was in so much pain they gave her morphine and it didn’t even help. It was a really awful thing to watch.

The same week Amber was fighting for her life, across town in Minneapolis, 54 year-old-old Roi Dahl was also having serious medical problems.

Roi Dahl: It scared the hell out of me. I cried.

He had been sick for days, but says he figured it was just something he would get over. But then came the pain—he says he was doubled over, unable to move, and hemorrhaging.

His family rushed him to the emergency room where doctors tried to stop the bleeding.

Dahl: The first night I was there they were holding their breath whether I was going to make it through the night or not. And the next day, they wanted to take out my entire colon and put a colostomy bag on me. And they still weren’t sure what was wrong.

Ten similar cases hit Minneapolis hospitals in three days, and no one was sure what was causing it. A public health investigation was launched.

Teams began calling patients to find out what they had eaten.

Dr. Steve Swanson of the Centers for Disease Control and the Minnesota department of public health suspected a food borne illness.

Another danger?
The dangers of dirty ice

Dr. Steve Swanson: We were actually contacting people who were ill and interviewing them while they were still in the hospital.

Because of the symptoms, Swanson thought it might be an outbreak of E.coli 0157 bacteria. E.coli comes from animal or, sometimes, human feces and is usually associated with undercooked ground beef. But health officials found the victims hadn’t eaten ground beef --- but they all had eaten something that you might never suspect of giving you food poisoning—bag salad.

Dr. Swanson: It’s a remarkable fact that most are not aware of that next to ground beef, lettuce is the most commonly implicated food item for E.coli 0157 infections.

Dr. Swanson and the CDC issue a public health warning about contaminated bag salad. Roi Dahl saw it and realized he still had part of the partially eaten bag in his refrigerator.

Dr. Swanson: He called me from the hospital and spoke with me, and said he believed that he was one of our outbreak victims. We then mobilized some people to get over to his house and to get the lettuce before it had decomposed too much. We sent it to our laboratory.

Minnesota Department Of Health / Steve Swanson
An electron microscope iamge of E.coli O157:H7 attached to alfalfa sprouts. These images are not part of the outbreak reported on Dateline, and are enhanced with color (e.coli would not be necessarily purple in color). They offer detail of what the bacterium appears like when viewed with electron microscopy and attached to sprouts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Roi Dahl’s leftover lettuce that cracked the case. At the lab, scientists showed us how they were able to extract and isolate E.coli 0157 in the lettuce, then, using DNA markers, they compared it to the strain of E.coli that sickened Dahl, Amber Brister and the others. It was a perfect match.

Dr. Swanson: It’s the first time ever in an outbreak of E.coli 0157 from lettuce that the outbreak strain has ever been found in the lettuce. That’s the proverbial ‘smoking gun.’

Dole Foods issued a voluntary recall for the ‘American Blend’ and ‘Classic Romaine’ bag salads implicated in the outbreak, but not before at least 26 people in three states had gotten very sick. Dr. Swanson believes there were probably many more victims.

Click for related stories
Lea Thompson: Investigating an important mystery
Tips on smart grocery shopping, food handling at home
What about dirty supermarkets?

Dr. Swanson: Those who become ill, and come to our attention in public health, are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, with E.coli O157, probably 20 times as many people get ill during an outbreak as you actually know about.

Lori Olson says she still can’t believe it was bag salad that made Amber so sick.

Lori Olson: Who would think that you could eat lettuce and almost die?

Most consumers would have no reason to suspect their lettuce. After all, it’s become part of the American diet. In fact, the industry says six million bags of salad are sold every day in this country.

Jim Gorney, food industry consultant: It’s a great product. It’s convenient, it’s wholesome, and it’s ready to go.

Industry Consultant Dr. Jim Gorney says bagged salad really is the greatest food innovation since, well, sliced bread. And millions do eat it safely every day. He says the outbreak that sickened Amber Brister and the others was unfortunate.

Gorney: My heart goes out to those people who have become ill. I have a 7-year-old myself and it’s really a tragedy when someone gets ill. It shouldn’t occur.

While the E.coli outbreak was unusual, it is not an isolated incident. The Food and Drug administration says there have been at least 19 food borne illness outbreaks linked to leafy greens—including raw spinach since 1995 —425 people have become seriously ill, and two have died.

Dr. Robert Brackett, head of food safety at the FDA: I’m very concerned about the welfare of the consumers.

Dr. Robert Brackett is head of food safety at the federal government’s Food and Drug Administration. He is worried about E.coli contamination of produce, especially lettuce.

FACT FILE Foodborne Illnesses

Click on an illness below for more on its symptoms and causes
• Botulism
• Campylobacter
• Cholera
• E. Coli
• Listeriosis
• Salmonellosis
• Shigella
• Typhoid Fever

Cause: An adult may become ill by eating spoiled food containing the botulism toxin, produced when the bacteria grows in improperly canned foods or in contaminated fish. Infant botulism is caused by eating the spores of the bacterium, which are found in honey.
Symptoms: Blurred vision, dry mouth, difficulty in swallowing or speaking, general weakness and shortness of breath. The illness may progress to complete paralysis, respiratory failure and death.

Prevention: People who eat home-canned foods should consider boiling the food for 10 minutes, which destroys the toxin. Infants should not be fed honey.

Treatment: Hospitalization and intensive care; botulism antitoxin can be helpful if given soon after symptoms begin.

Source: Center for Disease Control • Print this

Brackett: Over the last five years or so, we have noticed a real increase in the number of outbreaks that were traced back to fresh produce.

Lea Thompson, Dateline’s chief consumer correspondent: Would you consider these outbreaks a serious public health issue?

Brackett: Outbreaks of E. coli 0H157 are always a serious public health issue. E.coli can debilitate, it can kill, even a few cases is too much for us.

Minnesota Department Of Health / Steve Swanson
A bag of Dole Classic was recovered from a household. It was served at a college potluck dinner, and two individuals became ill with confirmed E.coli O157:H7 after consuming this bag.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E.coli in beef is usually killed by thorough cooking, but Dr. Brackett says if fresh lettuce is contaminated by E. coli, the person eating it is likely to get very sick.

Brackett: Because unlike ground beef or unlike some other products, there is no heating step. So, the interesting part here is that you have opportunities for contamination all the way from before the product is even planted, right up unto the consumer’s table.

Dr. Brackett says finding how E.coli is contaminating lettuce is a lot like trying to find a needle in a haystack. There are millions of acres of lettuce, and thousands of workers, processors and shippers involved in bringing salads to American tables.

Brackett: It could be something as simple as a deer walking through the field that contaminated a few heads or it could have been from a flooding. Or it could have been an ill food worker.

Thompson: Right now it’s really a mystery?

Brackett: It really is a mystery how this happened. But it’s one we have to solve.

CONTINUED: Investigating the source of E.coli. Plus, what is the food industry doing?
Looking at bright, green fields of lettuce, it’s hard to believe it could ever make you sick. But if lettuce is contaminated with E.coli, it can be deadly.

Lori Olson says she’ll never eat a bagged salad again. Her daughter Amber almost died last fall after eating dole bag salad. Olson and others who got sick want some answers, and are suing Dole foods.

In a letter to Dateline, Dole says it is “unable to comment” because of the pending lawsuits, and adds “food safety always has and will be our top priority.” The company says it is working “closely with government...to provide the freshest, cleanest fruits and vegetables possible.”

Click for related link
Dole company respose

To solve the mystery of how bag salad is contaminated, state and federal health officials have launched a wide-ranging investigation. So far, that investigation shows that lettuce implicated in last fall’s outbreak was grown in seven different fields in the Salinas valley of California. It was processed at a Dole packing plant in Soledad. Beyond that, the government has no idea where the E.coli came from and spokesman Jim Gorney says the industry is just as mystified.

Lea Thompson, Dateline chief consumer correspondent: How does E.coli get into the lettuce?

Jim Gorney, food industry spokesperson: That’s the $10,000 dollar question. We’re really perplexed as to how this is occurring.

To see just how lettuce is handled, we decided to go out to the fields, and talk to farmers, scientists and experts.

NBC VIDEO

• Are bagged salads safe?
April 28: With some reports of E.coli in lettuce, what steps can consumers take to avoid bacteria in their bagged salads? Chief Consumer Correspondent has more salad safety tips.
MSNBC

Vic Smith owns a lettuce farm in Yuma, Arizona. Smith says he takes every precaution to keep his crop clean, even requiring workers and visitors to cover their hair when they walk in his fields.

Vic Smith, lettuce farm owner: The workers cut the lettuce, cutting each individual head, taking off the outer wrapper leaves and then they have a ring core thing - they take the core right out of it.

The practice of coring the lettuce right in field only started a few years ago, about the time the E.coli outbreaks took an upturn. While it speeds the cutting and processing time, some food scientists wonder if the cutting creates an opportunity for E.coli to enter the plant.

Smith: All the lettuce is funneled through a disinfectant chamber, to basically heal the cut, then it is immediately conveyed into a lined bin container.

It is then chopped, sliced, mixed, and washed again at the packing plant. Experts fear in the process, even a small amount of E.coli contamination can be spread around, and end up in many bags of salad, which then are shipped and distributed all over the county.

But E. coli has been found in heads of romaine and iceberg lettuce too, which is not washed at all. It’s bagged in the field, refrigerated, and shipped directly to grocery stores. At Smith’s ranch, workers chop and wrap the whole heads right next to the coring.

And what about those workers?

Thompson: I noticed you even got porta-potties over here so that nobody even thinks about relieving themselves in the field.

Smith: Absolutely, that’s a case for dismissal.

Since E.coli can be present in human and animal waste, there’s also concern about the use of fertilizer. Smith says he doesn’t use raw manure fertilizer anymore - most lettuce growers don’t. But, there is always the chance birds could be nesting or dropping on the lettuce. Smith says he does what he can to keep them away.

Thompson: You’ve been growing lettuce for a long time, what do you think is causing this contamination?

Smith: Well, I couldn’t answer. I know we are doing everything we possibly can to control the risk exposure that we have with any potential contamination.

In California’s Salinas valley, water contaminated with animal feces is the leading suspect in three of the E.coli outbreaks. Investigators found before each one, these low lying fields had been flooded with creek water. A sample of the creek bed tested positive for E.coli 0157. And that’s a problem.

Scientists believe E.coli bacteria might have been absorbed by the lettuce plant’s root system. If that happens, washing the lettuce won’t do any good—the E.coli is already growing inside.

But Jim Gorney of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association says all the theories are just that—theories.

Gorney: We believe California Department of Health services has put forward this flooding theory. But we don’t have any data to support that theory. I mean we’re really finding it difficult to understand exactly what went wrong.

Gorney says there’s no real proof the contamination is coming from the lettuce at all.

Thompson: Are you suggesting that this E.coli may not have come from bagged salad?

Gorney: Well, we have no smoking gun evidence to show that it’s definitely the bag lettuce.

But wait: In Minnesota, the Center for Disease Control's Dr. Steve Swanson actually found E.coli inside a Dole bag salad, and its DNA matched the E.coli strain that sickened 26 people. He said it was a proverbial smoking gun.

The industry’s theory is somehow the outside of these lettuce bags was contaminated - in shipment, at the grocery store, or even in consumer’s homes. It suggests the E.coli only reached the lettuce after the bag was opened.

Dr. Steve Swanson, CDC: I personally think that’s a preposterous theory. There is actually no way you can have contamination to the outside bag of the lettuce across three states, six different chains and different distributors.

Thompson: The Food and Drug Administration and the California authorities say that the E.coli outbreaks came from bag lettuce. You disagree?

Gorney: Well, it’s certainly their firm belief and we take it seriously. And we’re working on doing our best to reduce the possibility of illnesses to zero. At this point, it’s fairly unclear.

But the federal government is losing patience with growers and processors.

Dr. Robert Brackett, Food and Drug Administration: When the most recent outbreaks from Minnesota happened—that was sort of the last straw.

In a tough letter to California growers and processors, Dr. Robert Brackett of the food and drug administration expressed “serious concern,” with the “continuing outbreaks of food borne illness associated with fresh and fresh-cut lettuce.” He wrote, industry “claims that ‘we cannot take action until we know the cause’ are unacceptable.”

Brackett: We have a problem here. We seeing these outbreaks. You know, please pay attention to what you’re doing. We want the industry to think like the whole industry and see this as their problem.

So what do you do while we wait for the scientists and the experts to figure it all out?

Even though bag lettuce is pre-washed, and is labeled ready to eat, experts say it doesn’t hurt to wash it again.
Make sure your hands are clean and you keep the vegetables away from any raw meat.
Keep that salad refrigerated.
Check the expiration date before you eat it. Even if the lettuce looks good, you should know E.coli can grow quickly in deteriorating greens.
Brackett: One case is one too many, and if we can find a way to solve the problem, to stop it in the future, that’s what we’re going to do.

© 2006 MSNBC Interactive

08-13-2006, 10:15 PM

Thanks for sharing that info. My mother-in-law had told me about it but I didn't know all the details.