Recent cases of E. coli contamination in packaged spinach had the leafy vegetable off store shelves and gone from the menu at University cafeterias.
An Iowa beef producer and a California lettuce grower also recalled some of their products over the weekend because of unrelated cases of possible E. coli contamination.
The spinach industry recalled multiple brands with “best if used by” dates from Aug. 17 to Oct. 1. Most stores have resumed selling packaged spinach, though it is still not available on campus.
According to The Associated Press reports, there were more than 190 cases of spinach-related E. coli reported in the past few weeks. Officials have confirmed that three died because of the outbreak, including an Idaho 2-year-old.
Because of the outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Sept. 14 against consuming fresh or raw spinach. The official warning lasted two weeks and was lifted at the end of September.
LSU Dining pulled spinach from its menu the Monday following the FDA warning.
“For a recall like this there is an immediate turn around,” said David Heidke, director of LSU Dining. “First thing Monday morning we complied with that recall.”
Heidke said spinach will be back on the menu as soon as Chartwells Educational Dining Services, the company in charge of LSU Dining, determines that it is safe.
“Once we get the all-clear, obviously it’s something we will have back on our menu,” he said.
Mark Kraner, director of contracted auxiliary services, said there are no plans to pull beef or lettuce from the menu because the possibly contaminated products were not shipped to this area.
“If we were delivered any of those products, we would know within hours to get those off our shelves,” Kraner said.
William Davidson, industrial engineering junior, said he thought it was good for LSU Dining to remove spinach from the menu.
“I wouldn’t want them to feed me something that is bad,” he said.
Davidson also said he thinks the problems with contaminated spinach could indicate problems in other areas.
“If standards for spinach aren’t up to par, what else isn’t up to par?” Davidson said. “Why weren’t the standards in place before people got hurt?”
Heidke said he heard no concerns from students about contaminated spinach nor had he received any complaints about its removal from the menu.
AP reports said that the outbreak was traced to Natural Selection Foods, LLC of San Juan Bautista, Calif. The company packages spinach for dozens of different brands, including Dole.
The recent outbreak catalyzed industry-wide reforms, including improved soil and water testing and improved worker sanitation, according to AP reports.
—–Contact Daniel McBride at [email protected]