Quotable Quotes:

 ìIf all the fresh spinach linked to these latest E. coli outbreaks and deaths had been irradiated, no one would have died due to that spinach.î

Dr. Jean Weese,  Professor of Food Science, Auburn University.

"Irradiation -- exposing food to high-energy rays, such as X-rays -- is the only method shown to reliably kill bacteria embedded deep within a lettuce or spinach leaf without causing significant damage."

Dr. Christopher Sommers, USDA scientist

In This Update:

Contaminated Spinach: What Would Popeye Do?

Group's Opposition to Irradiation Threatens Human Life

Approval of Irradiation with Ready to Eat Foods Will Save Lives

Public Citizen for E-Coli and Salmonella

Irradiation project raises Philippine mango Growersí hopes

Irradiated foods are desirable

Businessman a true believer in irradiation

Spinach is latest blot on Salinas; Inspectors, farmers look at how to make sure produce is safe

Quality and microbial population of cornish game hen carcasses as affected by electron beam irradiation

Food Irradiation Research and Technology text book now available from IFT & Blackwell Publishing

The warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saying that bagged spinach is likely the cause of an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections, strikes fear in the hearts of many parents. Spinach is the poster child of healthy eating -- replete with vitamins, minerals, possibly healthful antioxidants such as beta-carotene -- it has long been a food that parents lovingly urge on reluctant children. Because diets with ample amounts of fruits and vegetables are associated with better health, consumers have been looking for ways to incorporate them more frequently and conveniently into their diets.

Producers of fresh produce have responded by making it easier for busy consumers to get their fruits and veggies in as convenient a way as possible. Now one can find pre-cut fruits and salad fixings in virtually any large grocery store in the country. Although these items are supposedly washed and ready for consumption when purchased, sometimes accidents occur.

A couple of years ago, some pre-washed, bagged organic lettuce was found to be contaminated with E. coli -- probably because of the use of manure-contaminated water when it was washed. Now, we have outbreaks of E. coli infections in eight states, according to the CDC, apparently stemming from consumption of bagged fresh spinach.

What's a consumer to do?
First, wash all fresh produce under running water carefully, especially that which will be consumed without cooking (see ACSH's report on Foodborne Illness), whether it's bagged or not. Second, urge food purveyors to use all modern technologies to prevent such contamination from reaching consumers. We don't know if the source of the E. coli was organic spinach or not. Such produce, because it is more likely to be fertilized with manure than conventionally raised crops, has a higher probability of being contaminated with manure. There are no demonstrated health advantages to organic foods compared to conventional ones, and in the case of salad greens, there may be a large disadvantage.

Although supposed "consumer activists" repeatedly urge consumers to forgo supposedly pesticide-laden conventional produce because of bogus health claims, these current outbreaks may well undercut their claims of organic superiority.

Importantly, the CDC recommends that bagged spinach purchased recently should be discarded -- not washed or anything else. Just throw it away and buy more next week.

UPDATE: Yet another action consumers should consider is to press the FDA and other overseers of the nation's food supply to extend protective food irradiation to produce such as spinach and other salad greens. Irradiation treatment is usually considered more for sanitizing beef or poultry (see ACSH's booklet on Irradiated Foods), but several articles have been published recently in the scientific literature (e.g. Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 65, No. 9, 2002, pages 1388ñ1393: Suspending Lettuce Type Influences Recoverability and Radiation Sensitivity of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Brendan A. Niemira, Christopher H. Sommers, and Xuetong Fan) suggesting that such treatment could go far in protecting consumers of lettuce and other greens from E. coli and other bacterial infections. Ironically, people who consume only organic produce for their supposed health benefits could not benefit from such sanitation because irradiation is not allowed under the USDA's organic rules. Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D., is Director of Nutrition at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).

WASHINGTON -- Examiner columnist Jay Ambrose, a former Washington opinion writer and editor of two dailies, writes that authorities have traced the contaminated spinach that has killed as many as three people and sickened at least 173 to a few counties in Californiaís Salinas Valley, but letís not stop the investigative work too soon. Thereís a lesson to be learned here, an important one about the dangers of superstitious, leftist twaddle and the threat it poses to human life.

So letís zero in on the anti-corporate, conspiracy-minded, Nader-formed group, Public Citizen, which never quits yelping about the public good while simultaneously betraying it, and letís focus on its opposition to irradiation, which is an extraordinary means of saving literally tens of thousands of lives lost to food-borne illness over the years.

Using gamma rays, X-rays or electrons, you can do as federal law allows and easily, quickly zap meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables with little to no damage to taste or nutrition, but with fatal consequences for virtually all the bacteria, viruses and other creatures that afflict millions of Americans a year with painful, sometimes deadly illnesses. Is this safe? You bet it is, says the World Health Organization, U.S. government health agencies and still more science experts. The food wonít glow in the dark, and neither will people who eat it.

But anything nuclear puts the fear of something Chernobyl-like in many souls, apparently including officials at Public Citizen and not a few of those who listen to them, citizens who fall for their non-sequiturs and their highly speculative worries that are tenuous, wispy ghosts next to the ghastly reality of agonizing food-borne deaths.

These activists, who see profit-making collusion lurking behind every bush, say irradiation is no panacea. Perhaps not, but that is hardly an argument against a process so enormously effective. They say its use will dissuade agribusinesses from care in handling food, which is roughly like saying that keeping a broom in the kitchen encourages dirty floors and is reason enough to ban brooms. Yet because nervous citizens hear and believe this while ignoring sounder, scientific voices, businesses are discouraged from using a process that might cost them customers.

Some of those sounder voices were to be found in news accounts here and there as media outlets kept up with the story about E. coli-infected spinach. Dr. Wayne Askew, of the University of Utah College of Health was quoted as saying that irradiation might be the only sure means of having safe spinach leave processing plants. Dr. Jean Weese, a food science professor at Auburn University, said in another account, ìIf all the fresh spinach linked to these latest E. coli outbreaks and deaths had been irradiated, no one would have died due to that spinach.î

Now consider the much-cited words of Mark Worth, a chief in Public Citizenís anti-irradiation campaign when he spoke with the San Diego Union-Tribune five years ago. He philosophized about the need to accept the ìhazards of lifeî and understand that ìE. coli and salmonella are part of life,î and made it sound as if the eradication of smallpox was a mistake. That he said this is absolutely true. It is so true that Public Citizen soon dissociated itself from any idea it worried more about protecting bacteria or viruses than humans.

Worthís remarks nevertheless gave us a kind of epiphany ó a sudden, striking insight ó into the anti-modernist, back-to-nature extremism that informs a certain style of political activism, while the remarks of non-ideological experts should give us a sense of urgency about taking whatever further steps are needed in government, in business and in science to extend the benefits of irradiation wherever possible to the food that sustains us and sometimes does not.

Sioux City, IA: Executives with Sadex Corp; a food irradiation company in Sioux City, Iowa, said September 27 the risk of foodborne illnesses in produce such as spinach could be greatly reduced if the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) would finally approve a petition to allow broader use of irradiated food products.

The FDA ìsat onî petitions by USDA and an industry group to approve irradiation technology for a broad range of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods such as produce and fresh meats. Irradiation is currently allowed for processed foods such as hamburgers, the major transmission method for E. coli illness in the meat industry. More food products could be protected if irradiation received government approval for more products, said David Corbin, chairman & chief executive officer for Sadex.

The most recent E. coli strain that originated in Californiaís spinach industry is considered more virulent. ìIrradiation is extremely effective at getting rid of that organism,î said Dr. Dennis Olson, a meat scientist at Iowa State University, who has studied irradiation during the past twenty years. By eliminating bacteria, irradiation also increases shelf life of food items, Olson said. ìThe thing I have observed is something bad has to happen to move this technology forward,î Olson said.

Olson said he has inquired with FDA about the irradiation petition, but FDA officials have declined to provide him with any information. The petition, when filed in 1999, was supposed to be on the ìfast trackî for approval, he said. The petition could likely advance if there was more pressure to do so, he added.

Olson also acknowledges that there are groups that actively oppose irradiation and question its safety. Still, the technology has been used in the medical field for decades and there are volumes of research backing the safety of the process, he said.

As if to further the safety of irradiation, Corbin and another Sadex official took some spinach they irradiated September 27^th and ate it in front of a bevy of television cameras and photographers. Sadex officials said they were asked not to say where the spinach originated.

Corbin said consumers should be given the option to buy irradiated products.

Currently the FDA requires a label on products that are irradiated. Olson  said that could become a marketing positive as more people learn about (the benefits) of irradiation technology. ìI think we will see in the future that consumers will look for that (label),î Olson said. Chris Clayton, DTN Staff Reporter:

Cebu City, Philippines: The US Department of Agricultureís (USDA) approval of a P82-million grant for a three-year pest survey raised the hopes of the provinceís mango growers to finally export their products to the United States.

The survey, which will begin in July next year, will determine the appropriate level of dosage that prevents discoloration of the mango skin, Visayas Chamber of Mango Industry Multipurpose Cooperative (VCMIMPC) chairperson Virgie de la Fuente said. In an interview with Sun Star Cebu, de la Fuente said the proposed irradiation facility, which will also be financed by the USDA grant, will depend on the results of the survey.

Apart from extending the shelf life of mangoes, the irradiation facility is designed to disinfect and kill pests, such as fruit flies and weevils. Following the implementation of a stricter quarantine protocol for mango exporters, the USDA requires Philippine mangoes to go through the irradiation process before they are shipped to the US.

ìThat is why the US, Australia and New Zealand only accept mango exports from Guimaras because it has been quarantined for many years now,î de la Fuente said. She added that the chamber is working on the acquisition of a 20-hectare public land, either in the South Reclamation Project (SRP) or in Consolacion, where the facility could be based. Once the land for the irradiation facility is donated, locators will be invited to help operate the processing plants for mangoes and other crops, de la Fuente related.

Facilities
ìIt will also include other facilities, like hot water treatment,î she added. Aside from providing an increase in employment, de la Fuente said the facility will generate an estimated P6.5 million in average export earnings daily. ìWhen it is in full operation, export earnings may even reach P13 million,î she also said.

The irradiation facility, she added, will help speed up the quarantine process. ìIt will only take ten minutes to quarantine five metric tons of mangoes per hour,î she said.

De la Fuente revealed that VCMIMPC is also eyeing a Vapor Heat Treatment facility in Banawa, which is another ìspecial projectî of the Department of Agriculture and is estimated to cost P17 million.

ìThe facility will be used for mangoes grown outside Guimaras, so that mangoes, like the ones from Cebu, will be exported directly to Japan, Hong Kong and Korea,î de la Fuente said. She said that only four to five percent of the countryís total mango harvest is of export quality.

VCMIMPC, a group of mango stakeholders, has more than 100 members in the Visayas. The improper agricultural practices by several mango growers are affecting the countryís supply of export quality mangoes, said Visayas Chamber of Mango Industry and Multipurpose Cooperative (VCMIMC) chairperson Virgie de la Fuente.

In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, de la Fuente cited two common malpractices, which includes the harvesting of mangoes earlier than its maturity date and the planting of mango trees too close to each other. ìThe canopy should not touch each other because it prevents good ventilation and only a lesser amount of sunlight can penetrate,î de la Fuente said.

The maturity date of mangoes is expected to be between 112 and 125 days. When harvested earlier, it will be sour. ìThat is why in 2003, more than 50 percent of the provinceís mangoes were of poor quality because they were not collected at their right age,î she said.

Process
One way to determine a good quality mango is a process called ìfloatation,î where mangoes are submerged in water containing one to two percent of salt. When the mango sinks, it means it is ready for harvesting, de la Fuente said.
With the goal of making Cebu the center of the mango industry in the
Philippines, VCMIMPC is set to hold a Mango Spraying Service Provider Seminar.

The seminar, which is scheduled on Sept. 29 and 30 at the Applied Nutrition Center in Banilad, seeks to address the two common malpractices, among others.

Seminar
ìThe seminar will also focus on demonstrating the proper use of fertilizers to help produce mangoes and other fruits more economically and efficiently,î de la Fuente said. She reported that most mango contractors in the province do not use fertilizers.
Some 30 to 50 mango enthusiasts and potential mango growers are expected to join the two-day seminar.

Meanwhile, de la Fuente is hopeful the ìBagsakan Centerî located in the North Reclamation Area will be fully utilized by the end of the year or once the harvest of mangoes improves. "Because of poor harvests, agents of exporters go directly to the farm. That is why mangoes were no longer brought to the city,î she said.

Challenges
The high prices of farm inputs, like fertilizers, chemicals and insecticides, as well as weather conditions, contributed to last yearís low harvest, de la Fuente said.

The ìBagsakan Centerî will be a retail and wholesale outlet projected to accommodate ten stalls.

As part of the chamberís program, de la Fuente also revealed that VCMIMPC will put up a Mango Pavilion in the South Reclamation Project within the next two to three years. De la Fuente said the chamber will apply for a grant with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the proposed pavilion. She added that apart from being a venue of future seminars, it will house a daily exhibit of mangoes from the Visayas

Ivan Weber of Salt Lake City writes to say thanks to Valerie Phillips for her column in the Deseret News on E. coli (Sept. 20).

When it comes to crop nutrients, we're darned if we do and darned if we don't fertilize "naturally." Our increasingly overpopulated world escalates pressures on food supply, croplands, water resources and air and water quality. Health is jeopardized by E. coli in "pre-washed," packaged spinach, fertilized ó somewhere ó with human and/or animal wastes. Water supplies are bacterially contaminated in many places. School kids get sick from cafeteria strawberries. Fresh produce, especially off season, is flown in from places where manure is the only fertilizer.

Given the dilemma, isn't food irradiation responsible as well as highly desirable? We could have our hamburger rare, our spinach uncooked, our lettuce crisp and fresh and our fruits and vegetables sweet and mature, harvested ripe instead of green. Please, government, allow us the choice of irradiated foods, for our own good and enjoyment.

Fort Worth businessman David Corbin put his mouth where his money is Wednesday.

The chief executive of Sadex Corp., a company that provides food-irradiation services, believes that his technology can help eliminate food-borne illnesses like the recent deadly E. coli outbreak. So he used the radiation treatment on bacteria-laden spinach, and then ate a bowlful of the stuff. "It was really, really good - a fine American product," Corbin said. Corbin is also president of the investment firm Corbin & Co.

Sadex, which is based in Fort Worth and has an irradiation plant in Iowa, is pushing federal regulators to allow its treatment on bagged produce and other ready-to-eat foods. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits irradiation of raw meat, poultry, fresh produce and spices. But it's prohibited for hot dogs, deli meats, packaged salads and other processed foods.

"It could've helped greatly reduce the spinach crisis, not only for the American consumer, but for American farmers," Corbin said.

Irradiation, which exposes food to energy beams to destroy bacteria and boost the food's shelf life, doesn't make the food radioactive. Critics contend that it poses health risks and makes food less nutritious.

Ontario's health ministry Wednesday confirmed the first Canadian case of E. coli infection from contaminated spinach linked to the U.S. outbreak.

The victim ate spinach purchased at a grocery store in Renfrew County, about 93 miles northwest of Ottawa, said John Letherby, a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Spinach contaminated with E. coli bacteria has sickened 183 people in 26 U.S. states and killed one person. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recall orders and shut the border to U.S. spinach after learning of the outbreak, spokesman Marc Richard said in an interview.

In separate developments, Ohio and Illinois became the fourth and fifth U.S. states Tuesday to isolate E. coli bacteria from bags of fresh spinach. Both states are conducting further tests to link the strains with the outbreak.

The FDA late last week scrapped an outright ban on eating fresh spinach, saying that fresh spinach grown outside of the California counties Monterey, Santa Clara and San Benito is safe. Fresh spinach began reappearing in supermarket shelves this week.

The FDA investigation has focused on Natural Selection Foods LLC, which produces spinach for distribution across the U.S. and to Canada and Mexico under a number of different brand names. This story includes material from Bloomberg News.

Spinach is latest blot on Salinas; Inspectors, farmers look at how to make sure produce is safe, By Jim Downing and Dorsey Griffith; Sacramento Bee Staff Writers; (September 22, 2006)

As agricultural and disease experts examined farm operations Thursday in three California counties for clues to the multi-state E. coli outbreak, state and federal health officials wrestled with nagging questions about why Salinas Valley greens have been the source of at least eight outbreaks in recent years.

Health investigators continued searching for the culprit in the nationwide outbreak, as the number of confirmed infections traced to fresh spinach packed in the Salinas region climbed to 157.

The outbreak has killed one Wisconsin woman. Though the contamination has so far been linked to a single Salinas Valley vegetable processor, Natural Selection Foods LLC, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended that consumers avoid all spinach.

As the investigation continued, government officials and industry representatives held back-to-back meetings aimed at getting spinach grown in areas not implicated in the recent outbreak back onto store shelves -- without confusing consumers about its origin.

"We have to make sure that spinach going back on the shelves is safe," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer at the federal Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "The first step to that is ensuring that it's not coming from an implicated growing area currently under investigation." Labeling individual packages may be the best approach, he said.

 As the E. coli investigation reached its first full week, questions have arisen about the safety of fresh produce.

Q: What is the industry doing about the E. coli outbreak?

A: Industry leaders said Thursday they will follow so-called "good practices" aimed at minimizing the risk of consumer exposure to contamination.

The practices are voluntary. For instance, growers would ensure that manure used for fertilizer has been disinfected, harvest managers would give workers protective gloves, and processors would monitor wash water for contamination.

But farms are not inspected regularly. Without that, it's impossible to say how many growers are following the standards.

"Like everything, there's variability," said Trevor Suslow, an extension specialist at the University of California, Davis, who works closely with the produce industry.

Q: Can the government monitor the industry more closely?

A: California has a minimal role in inspecting produce operations. The Department of Health Services inspects farms only when there is an outbreak; the Department of Food and Agriculture looks at produce only to see if it meets market standards.

DHS does inspect the industry's processing facilities at least once a year. Kevin Reilly, deputy director of Prevention Services at DHS, said Thursday that Natural Selection Foods was last inspected on May 2. No violations were found.

Q: Is the nation's supply of fresh vegetables safe?

A: Acheson emphasized that while the food supply remains among the safest in the world, adherence to recommended safety guidelines is critical.

"There have been good practices published," he said. "It is important to ensure they are being followed. The questions to be addressed are: Are they adequate? Are they being followed? And does industry need to be regulated to ensure the food supply is safe?"

Even with perfect compliance, food safety experts said a zero-risk supply of raw vegetables may be impossible.

"Bacterial contamination is very difficult to control," said Christine Bruhn, director of the center for consumer research at UC Davis. "Vegetables are grown out in the fields," (where, deer and wild birds may defecate). "It's just part of the world."

Q: Why are fresh greens especially problematic?

A: Raw greens pose unique food safety problems because the supply chain lacks a "control point" -- a step at which processors can ensure that the product is pathogen-free, UC Davis food safety expert Dean Cliver said.

Even vigorous industrial washing in a disinfectant solution can't guarantee a full kill of harmful bacteria, since the bacteria can "hide" from the disinfectant in crevices, or even in the plant tissue itself.

Q: When did regulators become aware of potential problems with fresh greens?

A: In recent years, the FDA has grown increasingly concerned about illnesses tied to lettuce and other leafy greens such as spinach. Greens are the leading vehicle for produce-related foodborne illness, according to data presented last month by Robert Brackett, director of the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The agency has issued two stern letters the past two years urging the fresh greens industry to tighten safety controls.

Q: How did the food safety system break down in this case?

A: Acheson said it is possible that the current problem began on an individual farm, then contaminated larger loads of spinach at different points in the supply chain.

Q: What can technology do to protect our fresh foods?

A: Irradiation -- exposing food to high-energy rays, such as X-rays -- is the only method shown to reliably kill bacteria embedded deep within a lettuce or spinach leaf without causing significant damage, said USDA scientist Christopher Sommers

ABSTRACT: We evaluated the chemical and microbiological quality of Cornish game hen carcasses irradiated up to 7 kGy with a 10 MeV linear accelerator (dual beam configuration). Eighty frozen and vacuum packaged (approximately 0.45 kg) Cornish game hens (Gallus domesticus) were irradiated and stored in low-density polyethylene bags at 4 ± 1 C for 21 d; nonirradiated chickens served as controls. Fat oxidation (in terms of malonaldehyde content) increased with storage time and dose for all chicken parts analyzed (breast, thigh, and skin). As expected, the skin had the highest level of fat oxidation while the breast samples had the lowest. Oxidation level in all samples exposed to 2 kGy reached a maximum on day 14. Sensory evaluation showed that irradiation caused significant textural toughening, and increased the redness of raw chicken meat. In terms of overall quality and aroma, lipid oxidation was not a major problem since it was not detected by the panelists. Irradiation significantly reduced the total viable microbial counts (TVC) in the breast and thigh samples. Exposure to 3-kGy dose decreased the TVC by 0.3-log cycles on the surface of the skin. In less than 14 d, the nonirradiated chicken carcasses had counts greater than 6 log CFU/50 cm2, while the 2 and 3 kGy irradiated samples reached these numbers only after 21 d of storage. Samples irradiated at 7 kGy had consistently the lowest counts (2.5 log CFU/50 cm2) throughout storage time.This study shows that irradiation up to 7 kGy and refrigerated storage (4 C) inhibits microbial growth and extends shelf life of Cornish game hens without affecting consumers' acceptability.