Anyone else feel they should avoid salad?

[3DisneyBuggs]

Call me paranoid but after this whole spinach e coli outbreak, I'm not looking at fresh prodce the same anymore. I know I'm going to be having salad as part of some meals. LTT has a great salad with their dinner. I hate feeling like eating a salad or a fresh veggie will be risking my health. I know there is no spinach anywhere but what if another veggie is contaminated? I'm not usually this way. Anyone else feel like this or am I the only nut?

 

[robinb]

I'm sure that others will chime in that they too are afraid to eat veggies due to the spinach outbreak. I am not one of them, but I don't think you're nuts. If you never eat another raw vegetable again ... now that's nuts!

 

[Lynne M]

Believe me, Disney is going to take any precaution humanly possible to make their salads safe. The very last thing they want is to be all over the news as the source of a huge number of E. coli cases. They'd be dealing with lawsuits for the next 10 years.

As far as I know, the only problem is with bagged salad products. I doubt very much if Disney uses those, since they buy their produce in such massive quantities. Would I eat spinach at WDW? Nope, not right now. But I wouldn't worry about lettuce.

 

[ElizabethB]

I agree with the OP -- if it can happen with spinach, it can happen with any other produce. Since the scare, I've eaten rasperries, lettuce and other raw produce. And, each time I do, I think of e-coli.

 

[Corwin12]

Do you have fresh farms near where you live? Come summertime, all my produce dollars go to the fresh farms stands in my town. The vegetables are fresher, crisper, and taste much better ... they also don't oil their cuke skins. I worked in the produce section of a supermarket for twevle years (since I was a teen all the way through college) one thing I noticed over the years was the availability of produce year round that was once only seasonal. The quality of off season produce is poor and is handled more. I would suggest buying local produce if available, only buying produce in season (who wants a peach in February anyway) and, buy frozen if in doubt. Also, wash oranges, melons, and any other fruit with skin you don't eat ... most people don't and when they cut through them, the knife picks up any bacteria on the skin and transmits it right to the flesh of the fruit. I would not be nervous about eating any produce, spinach included.

 

[bicker]

It's disturbing, though, that this E.coli outbreak is associated with organic spinach. The rules governing the safety of organic food are less strict, and less strictly applied, than that for conventional produce. Organic is, unfortunately, more likely to suffer from these kinds of dangers. By comparison, I feel perfectly safe eating conventional produce.

I know some folks taste a difference betwen organic and conventional, but given the added risk, and the fact that both organic and conventional are equally nutritious, I don't think it is worth the risk to buy organic produce for my family any more.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

bicker, what's ironic is we started buying more organic foods for the health benefits. My sister eats that organic spinach all the time.

 

[bicker]

That's what is really disturbing about the whole organic thing: Of course the wholistic folks claim it is healthier, and of course the pesticide makers claim it is not healthier. What's the truth? When each side has its own proponents, I rely on folks like the American Dietetic Association:

Although organic foods generally are grown with lower levels of pesticides, no scientific evidence shows that these foods are healthier or safer than conventionally grown foods.

Source: American Dietetic Association.

 

[bstnsprts]

One thing to also be aware of is that the organic farms, as well as the companies that raise all natural meats, will sell product that doesn't meet organic or natural guidelines to conventional suppliers. As far as E.coli goes only cooking to at least 160 degrees will kill it if it is present. There is also a radiation treatment that some companies use for ground meats. The severe symptoms are most likely to occur in the very young, the elderly, or the unhealthy. A healthy adult would most likely just have some stomach cramps.

 

[PamNC]

E-coli that is. My DH and I got it from ground beef and it's the sickest I've ever been in my life. Obviously we survived it but at one point I thought I may not...it's that bad.

The bad thing for me is that I LOVE spinach. It's actually one of my favorite foods. I'm afraid to eat it right now, bagged or not bagged. The other scary thing is I had Earthbound Spring Mix (with spinach in it) one week before the outbreak. We live off of that Earthbound mix...and now I'm afraid to buy it. I'm sure I'll get over it and eventually start eating it again.

I'm not afraid to eat other leafy greens or raw vegetables.

PamNC

 

[Laura]

Nah, I'll just avoid spinach for a while until they figure it all out. E. coli can be found in a lot of things. It would be tragic if people stopped eating raw veggies because of this. They're so good for you.

 

[the Fidge]

I was raised on Popeye and could not betray him no way!!! I can't avoid the salad or fresh greens or I wll avoid the bathroom eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwweeeeeee!!! Too much info!!!

 

[jeepgirl30]

Avoid salad? Absolutely. I'm on vacation I don't want to eat salad or anything else healthy.

Okay not what the OP meant but I still purchase the bagged salad. I do try to be cautious on the raw veggies and fruits I buy and wash them.

We need to be careful but if we stopped eating everything that has ever raised concern we'd be starving.

 

[robinb]

It's not clear that the organic spinach was tainted. As of 9/18 all the the tainted spinach that was tested was conventional as per the codes on the bags.

ETA: Here is where I get the vast majority of my non-winter produce: http://www.harmonyvalleyfarm.com/ . I have belonged to Harmony Valley Farm's Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA) for over 10 years.

 

[BamaBaloo]

I wasn't worried when this story broke, because I don't eat spinach. But then I heard on NPR that there have been 20 outbreaks of E.Coli in the last 10 years spanning all sorts of bagged produce, including lettuce.

Really makes you think......

 

[kaytieeldr]

Keep in mind, too, that (as of yesterday, at least) there have been only 113 incidents. There are what, almost three million residents in this country and over a million in Mexico - out of those four million people, only one has died and only 112 others have gotten ill.

 

[ceecee]

A 15 year old girl in our town got it from this latest batch of spinach. She will be okay, but it is kind of scary. I ate spinach on my Subway the day before!!! I notice all our grocery salad bars and Subways have removed the spinach. They said on the news that is can not be washed off due to it being in the manure they used as fertilizer.

 

[bicker]

These are the brands recalled: Natural Selection Foods, Pride of San Juan, Earthbound Farm, Bellissima, Dole, Rave Spinach, Emeril, Sysco, O Organic, Fresh Point, River Ranch, Superior, Nature's Basket, Pro-Mark, Compliments, Trader Joe's, Ready Pac, Jansal Valley, Cheney Brothers, Coastline, D'Arrigo Brothers, Green Harvest, Mann, Mills Family Farm, Premium Fresh, Snoboy, Farmer's Market, Tanimura & Antle, President's Choice, Cross Valley and Riverside Farms, and River Ranch.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Thanks, Bicker!

 

[Took]

Keep in mind, too, that (as of yesterday, at least) there have been only 113 incidents. There are what, almost three million residents in this country and over a million in Mexico - out of those four million people, only one has died and only 112 others have gotten ill.

I think that's 300 million

took