Sludge Watch ==> Spinach growers begin destroying crops

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Spinach growers begin destroying crops
17.sep.06
San Jose Mercury News
Lisa M. Krieger and John Woolfolk
As federal and state investigators searched spinach processing plants and 
Salinas Valley fields to find precisely where the deadly E. coli bacteria 
that has killed one person and sickened nearly 100 others originated, 
growers began destroying their crops.
Farmers were cited as saying that unless the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration retracts its warning against eating fresh packaged spinach 
their produce was worthless. Despite two weeks of effort, investigators on 
Saturday appeared no closer to tracing the source of the contamination than 
they were on Friday, when San Juan Batista-based Natural Selection Foods LLC 
was linked to the outbreak in at least 20 states.
The story says that the E. coli outbreak is the sixth outbreak blamed on the 
nation's fresh produce in five years -- despite ever-tightening efforts to 
keep spinach and lettuce clean.
Elsewhere around the country, health officials began submitting genetic 
samples of the bacteria isolated from patients, so nationwide comparisons 
could be made.
So far, no answers have appeared.
Samantha Cabaluna, spokeswoman for Natural Selection Foods., was cited as 
saying it was still unclear Saturday whether the outbreak concerned 
organically or conventionally farmed spinach. The story explains that the 
company produces both varieties in separate sections of its San Juan 
Bautista processing facility. For some labels like Dole, Natural Selection 
produces both organic and conventionally grown spinach, but for others like 
Trader Joe's, the company packs only its organic variety while another 
producer packs the conventional kind, she said.
At Earthbound Farm's fenced compound on San Juan Highway Saturday, security 
guards turned away news reporters and handed them a two- page prepared 
statement the company had prepared Friday evening. Company founders Drew and 
Myra Goodman did not answer the phone at their Carmel Valley home.
Big-rig trucks drove in and out of the compound and employees in green 
hard-hats and heavy jackets could be seen walking about throughout the day.
Attorney William Marler of Seattle, who is representing 25 victims of this 
outbreak, was cited as saying that ready-to-eat produce poses risks that 
cooked and pasteurized food does not, adding, "This product has to be 
completely sterile to be safe. Once bacteria is on the plant, it is nearly 
impossible to take off. It only takes 10 to 50 bacteria to get sick -- and 1 
million of them fit on the head of a pin."
Marler was cited as saying he suspects that contaminated water, either from 
irrigation or rinsing, is the problem, adding, "To get this many people 
sick, it's got to be the water," he said. "It is not just a bird flying 
overhead."
It is typical for suppliers like Natural Selection Foods to grow spinach 
themselves, as well as buy it from brokers, who purchase it from dozens of 
small growers, said Marler, and that makes the investigation so hard,, 
noting, "The longer the chain of distribution, the harder it is to pinpoint 
where the problem occurred. We don't have bar codes on each leaf of spinach, 
to trace it. The problem is, once it's washed and cut up and put in a bag, 
it is almost impossible to figure out which farm it came from. That is why 
the FDA has been so frustrated, why the industry is so frustrated. We keep 
having these problems."
Industry officials say that both organic and non-organic produce processors 
put their greens through a triple wash process. The first step is a fresh 
water rinse to remove dirt; the second and third step both involve a 
thorough chlorinated bath.
The vast distribution system of modern agriculture means that a single 
problem is quickly spread across the country, said Marler.
Cabaluna was cited as saying that there was nothing about organic produce 
that would make it more or less susceptible to bacterial contamination, 
adding, "We do everything the same in our processing." (what about in the 
field? -- dp)
Bob Martin of Rio Farms in King City was quoted as saying, "We need to know 
where it is coming from," adding that his produce farm has implemented many 
new measures -- using ulmyratra-clean equipment and chlorinated rinse water 
-- to keep ready-to-eat produce safe. But he worries that the public will 
lose confidence, stating, "It's hard to fathom how this can keep happening, 
when we're jumping through every hoop possible."