NDSU Offers Advice on Handling Produce Safely

The current multistate E. coli outbreak linked to spinach is prompting food safety experts to urge consumers to handle fresh fruits and vegetables properly.

That includes washing produce well under running tap water, and scrubbing it with a clean vegetable brush if necessary.

However, washing doesn’t remove E. coli bacteria, so consumers should heed the federal Food and Drug Administration’s warning not to eat fresh spinach or products containing fresh spinach until further notice, says North Dakota State University Extension Service food and nutrition specialist Julie Garden-Robinson.

The outbreak of the E. coli 0157:H7 strain has killed one person and sickened more than 110 others in 21 states. This strain is particularly virulent and requires only small amounts to make people ill, according to Charlene Wolf-Hall, an associate professor in food microbiology at NDSU.

E. coli 0157:H7 can cause severe diarrhea and kidney damage, and in some cases death, particularly in young children, the elderly and people with impaired immune systems.

This outbreak is the 20th linked to spinach or lettuce since 1995, the FDA reports. Investigators are looking for possible sources, such as contaminated irrigation water.

Spinach and lettuce are not more susceptible to E. coli contamination than other produce, says Wolf-Hall, who has been involved in a U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded study of ways to keep ready-to-eat food safe. However, more people are eating spinach, and it’s being mass-produced and widely distributed, which is why this outbreak is affecting so many states.

Some victims are from Minnesota, but no cases have been reported in North Dakota.

Concern over contaminated spinach shouldn’t keep people from eating other fresh produce, health experts say.

“I always tell my food safety students there’s no food that’s 100 percent safe, and they have to put the risk into perspective,” Wolf-Hall says. For example, the odds of becoming ill from contaminated spinach are quite low when you consider the volume of the vegetables grown and sold throughout the U.S., she adds.

Here is some advice from the NDSU Extension Service on handling fresh fruits and vegetables safely:

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Source: Charlene Wolf Hall, (701) 231-6387, charlene.hall@ndsu.edu
Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ellen.crawford@ndsu.edu