SAN FRANCISCO – The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak traced to tainted spinach rose to 109 on Sunday, as federal officials announced more brands recalling their products.
At least one of the illnesses is in Washington state.
“This is unquestionably a significant outbreak in terms of E. coli,” said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer with the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Natural Selection Foods LLC, the world’s largest producer of organic produce, has been linked to the infected greens, prompting a recall of 34 brands. Those brands include the company’s own labels and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection, based in San Juan Bautista, Calif., to produce or package its spinach.
On Sunday, River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, Calif., added to its recall spring mixes containing spinach that were sold under the labels Hy Vee, Farmers Market and Fresh and Easy, FDA officials said. All contain spinach purchased from Natural Selection, they said.
Federal officials stressed that the bacteria had not been isolated in products sold by Natural Selection, best known for the Earthbound Farm brand. As the investigation continues, other brands may be implicated, officials said.
The recalls came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intervened to help in investigate the outbreak, which has killed a 77-year-old Wisconsin woman, officials said.
In Ohio, state health officials said they were investigating the death of a 23-month-old girl who was sickened by E. coli to determine whether the case was related to the outbreak. The girl’s mother said she often buys bagged spinach.
E. coli cases linked to tainted spinach have been reported in 19 states, including Washington. Wisconsin had the most cases reported.
Other states reporting cases were California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming, according to the CDC. The seven new cases reported Sunday were in states with previous illnesses, Acheson said.
The Food and Drug Administration continued to warn consumers not to eat fresh spinach or products containing fresh spinach until further notice.
The investigation by the FDA and the California Department of Health Services will widen today with the aim of tracing the spinach to individual farms, Acheson said.
Some restaurants and retailers may be taking spinach out of bags before selling it, so consumers shouldn’t buy it at all, the FDA said.
Boiling contaminated spinach can kill the bacteria, but washing won’t eliminate it, the CDC warned.
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