Play it safe with spinach

Caution is key 'till we're sure about what's happening'

Locally, fresh spinach is a rare commodity.

Since Thursday, when the Food and Drug Administration linked a California company's fresh spinach to an outbreak of E. coli, spinach has been disappearing from the nation's shelves. So far, the outbreak has killed one person and sickened at least 109 others in 19 states. (North Carolina is not one of them, but Virginia is.)

Ford's Produce in Raleigh has been collecting spinach from its customers and sending it back to a distribution center in New Jersey, company President Lynn Ford says.

"We know it will be destroyed so that it will not get back into the food chain in any form," he adds. "Safety is everybody's No. 1 concern."

Spinach also has been pulled from grocery store produce sections, including at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, where produce manager Wendy Hayes either returned or destroyed all bagged spinach, salad mixes containing spinach and bunch spinach.

Restaurants also asked managers to stop serving spinach, including on acres of salad bars and sandwich counters of area chain restaurants.

The Golden Corral chain removed not only its raw spinach but also any cooked dishes containing spinach as soon as the recall was reported, says Bob McDevitt, senior vice president of franchise operations.

"We've taken it all off," including the popular creamed spinach on the buffet, McDevitt says. "We're just going to wait till we're sure about what's happening."

Here are some common questions about the E. coli outbreak and advice for consumers about spinach.

Q: Should I throw out all spinach products or just bagged fresh spinach?

A: Currently, the FDA has advised not eating any fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach.

Q: What about spinach at a farmers market? From a garden?

A: Locally, spinach is a springtime crop, so any spinach being sold at a farmers market now is probably not local and therefore suspect. Hayes advises consumers to "eat the other greens that aren't in danger," while avoiding spinach. "Local arugula is here, and collards will be coming up soon."

Q: What about spinach at restaurants? What should I ask the server?

A: Again, don't eat any raw spinach or salad mixes that contain raw spinach. "If you're not sure and you see spinach, ask the manager," McDevitt advises. Don't assume that all restaurants are aware of the recall, he says.

If a dish is served with cooked spinach, ask how the spinach was prepared. Make sure all the spinach was heated to 160 degrees for at least 15 seconds.

Q: What about frozen or canned spinach?

A: They're OK. Since both these forms of spinach are cooked before they are packaged, they are not included in the recall.

Q: Will washing fresh spinach get rid of the E. coli?

A: No, and if you're not careful, you could cross-contaminate other foods in the washing process.

Q: Will cooking fresh spinach kill the E. coli?

A: Yes, but be careful. First, you'll need to avoid cross-contamination with other foods when preparing the spinach. Then, to kill the E. coli, you need to boil the spinach or otherwise heat it at 160 degrees for 15 seconds, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Q: How will I know when it's safe to eat fresh spinach again?

A: Keep reading the newspaper and checking Web sites such as www.cdc.gov and www.fda.gov.

Q: What is E. coli?

A: E. coli O157:H7 is one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Although most strains are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals, this strain produces a powerful toxin and can cause severe illness.

Q: What are the symptoms? What should I do if I ate spinach and I have these symptoms?

A:Diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, young children and the elderly can develop a form of kidney failure that can lead to serious damage and even death. If you develop diarrhea after eating fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach, contact your doctor, and get tested for E. coli O157. If you ate fresh spinach or salad blends and feel well, you don't need to see a doctor.

Q: I heard this was the second time that spinach has been recalled recently. Is that true?

A: A previous outbreak involving fresh spinach occurred in California in October 2003, according to the FDA. Sixteen cases of illness were reported and two people died from E. coli O157:H7.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)