E. coli and Salmonella can cause serious infection

Oregon State and federal state health officials alerted consumers Thursday against beef contaminated with E. coli bacteria, after nine people were sickened — six in Washington, two in Oregon, and one in Idaho.

Approximately 20 tons of possibly tainted beef is affected by the recall. The beef has long since been removed from store shelves, as the sell-by dates have passed, but could still be in freezers at home. These were processed between July 19 and July 30.

The products involved are in 16-ounce packages, labeled “Northwest Finest” natural ground beef with 7% fat and “Northwest Finest” organic ground beef with 10% fat.

E. coli can cause serious infection. It is a normal resident in cattle intestines and proliferates in slaughterhouses. It may be present in undercooked meat, drinks that have not been pasteurized and raw vegetables.

If you should happen to cook it, make sure to cook at a minimum 160 degrees in order to kill the E. coli bacteria.

Symptoms of E. coli infection include bloody diarrhea, cramps in the stomach and vomiting. These can last up to 10 days. In a few cases (between 2 and 7 percent), weakened children may succumb to kidney failure resulting from the infection.

In California, a fresh produce grower and shipper also recalled fresh spinach after routine testing found it was contaminated with Salmonella. The test was conducted during the processing of the spinach for shipment, and a company spokesman estimated that less than 10 percent of contaminated cartons actually reached stores.

Salmonella makes 40,000 people ill every year in the US, and 600 of them die.

This is the second year in a row that California fresh spinach has been recalled for contamination. Last year, California suffered an E. coli outbreak where three people died and 200 were sickened. Since then, the leafy greens industry has come up with voluntary rules on food safety.

Among other stipulations, participating growers and shippers agree to have their produce tested prior to shipment and to allow inspections of their fields and processing facilities for compliance. This latest recall has been cited by the industry as proof that the self-regulation system is working.

Some legislators and consumer groups disagree. They think this incident proved the FDA has not improved its safety system for produce. They insist that the grower should have detected the presence of Salmonella before any spinach was shipped to consumers.

A US senator is reported to be crafting legislation that would establish growing and processing safety practices on a national level. The FDA recently submitted its proposed system for food safety, but many people believe the FDA does not have the manpower or resources to effectively implement it.