Wellness

[Montana]

If contaminated water is in the fields how can any ground vegetable be safe? 

[QueenDanceALot]

Just got a beautiful head of organic romaine from my local food co-op.  It was grown locally (the co-op buys from local farmers) and we are nowhere near California.

YAY, I can have my romaine salad!

[dex]

@Reever How much nutrition can be in lettuce grown that way.I am now curious.

[CherryHugs]

That sounds good but for some of us like me we have no food co op!   

[Gemspirit]

Another RN here. Just to add to what @aprilshowers wrote. E.coli can live in surfaces for 7-10 days! That includes countertops, cutting boards, etc in the kitchen. But on an everyday basis; in our own homes~everything from the bathroom surfaces to your cellphone, remote control, light switches, etc..
We were taught 30 seconds of brisk hand washing with soap & warm-hot water, getting every surface of your hands.
The same rules for the medical profession apply to ourselves & homes as well!

[hartbrokn]

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@dex wrote:

@Reever How much nutrition can be in lettuce grown that way.I am now curious.

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I saw a story on it on TV. It's still nutritious.

[depglass]

My favorite store still carries romain in sealed packages, mixed salad packages, and on the salad bar.  They claim in a posted notice that their supplier has not notified them that there is a problem.  Not good enough for me, I'm avoiding all of it.

[Nightowlz]

They are still selling Romaine salad mix in the bag at Wal-Mart. I thought if they were selling it it was ok. I assume they have pulled what has been recalled???

[Hooty]

This is from today's USA Today:

The romaine lettuce multi-state E. coli outbreak has now sickened 28 more people in four more states, the Centers for Disease Control said Wednesday.

That brings the total to 149 victims in 29 states. The bacteria has killed one person, but there have been no additional deaths.

The problem stems from bacteria-tainted romaine lettuce grown near Yuma, Ariz.

This is the largest multi-state E. coli outbreak in the U.S. in a dozen years.

Sixty-four individuals have been hospitalized, including 17 with kidney failure, according to the CDC. The sick people range in age from 1 to 88 with a median age of 30. Two out of three have been women.

If the CDC says don't eat it, I'm not eating it!  Yes it is still being sold in stores and restaurants!

[TW]

This is the price we pay for factory farming. CSI Miami happened to have a segment on a couple dying from E-Coli in one of their re-runs right when this mess started.  It was also caused my greens.  They were grown in an area that had run off from a cattle farm.  They showed how these companies tried to hide and shrug responsibility.  The CEO's didn't care that people died.   They also mentioned how chemicals used on produce changes the intenstinal flora in cows and makes E-coli grow faster and more virulent.  I bet everything they showed is based on truth.  Also, instead of strenghtening food safety laws the opposite is happening.  I want to know where my food comes from.  The labels don't tell you that.  It also seems that the FDA has been overly protective of the producers.  First it was chopped salad, weeks later all Romaine.  I bet that re-call was based on money and not protecting the public.  As for using Spinach who knows where that comes from.  With the mass production it's just a matter of time before the next outbreak.  Unless they change the way this is grown nothing is safe.  If they pack up bats in lettuce who knows what else is in there.  Seems the only thing you can eat anymore is food that has been heated to destroy all that stuff.  Even then you can't be sure what your are eating.