E. coli round-upContamination of leafy vegetables spurs new research
A U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded study at Ohio State will look at lesions and other problems particular to spinach and lettuce; if beef poisoning is due to undercooking, insufficient cleaning of vegetables may increase risk as well
Children may have a good excuse these days not to eat their greens, and indeed any mother who insisted this week that their child eat spinach was certainly guilty of child endangerment, if not malicious assault. The recent discovery of E. coli in spinach has spurned new research into leafy vegatables as carriers of bacteria — a departure from the standard research course of investigating beef manufacturing procceses. As anyone who has ever tried to wash spinach or lettuce knows, thorough cleaning can be difficult. (Orthodox Jews, however, concerned that their greens might contain unkosher insects, seem to manage the task). A new U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded study at Ohio State is now underway to examine the issue and “is expected to find new ways to prevent foodborne-pathogen outbreaks in produce by targeting factors such as lesions caused by plant diseases, that may contribute to contamination of vegetables in the field and during transportation,” the Cincinatti Post reported.
-read more in Martha Filipic’s Cincinnati Post discussion
