| ■ Number of E. coli spinach cases hits 109 | 06.09.21 |
| The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak traced to tainted spinach rose to 109 on Sunday, as federal officials announced more brands recalling their products. "This is unquestionably a significant outbreak in terms of E. coli," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer with the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Meanwhile, the company linked to the outbreak, Natural Selection Foods LLC, announced that its work with federal and state heath inspectors confirmed that the contamination did not come from its organic spinach. Manufacturing codes from packages of spinach that infected patients turned over to health officials all were from non-organic spinach, the company said in a statement late Sunday. Natural Selection packages both organic and conventionally grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan Bautista plant. The outbreak has prompted Natural Selection, the world's largest producer of organic produce, to recall 34 brands. They include the company's own labels and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection to produce or package its spinach. On Sunday, River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, Calif., added to its recall spring mixes containing spinach that were sold under the labels Hy-Vee, Fresh N' Easy, and Farmers Market, FDA officials said. All contain spinach purchased from Natural Selection, they said. The recalls came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intervened to help in investigate the outbreak, which has killed a 77-year-old Wisconsin woman, officials said. In Ohio, state health officials said they were investigating the death of a 23-month-old girl who was sickened by E. coli to determine whether the case was related to the outbreak. The girl's mother said she often buys bagged spinach. ------- Yahoo / Health News |