Friday, September 15, 2006
FDA on bagged spinach: 'Just don't eat it'


About 50 cases of E. coli have been traced to bagged spinach.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A "significant" outbreak of E. coli bacteria -- with cases "increasing by the day" -- prompted the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to advise people to stop eating fresh, bagged spinach, the agency said.

To date, about 50 cases of E. coli have been traced to bagged spinach, the FDA said, with one in Wisconsin leading to a fatality. Wisconsin (with 20 cases) and Utah (11) were the states with the most reports, as have Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, Idaho, New Mexico and Connecticut. Adult women have been affected in the majority of cases.

The FDA said it does not recommend cooking the products to kill the bacteria.

"Just don't eat it," said David Acheson, chief medical officer of the FDA's Center for Drug Safety and Applied Nutrition, adding that no specific brand or manufacturer has been implicated.

The FDA warning came after alerts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Wisconsin Department of Health.

The first case was reported August 23 and have become increasingly more common. After interviewing infected individuals, experts links the cases using a genetic matching technique called PSGE.

E. coli symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting, and the bacteria can lead to more severe complications including anemia and kidney failure.

-- From CNN's Sabriya Rice
Posted By CNN's Washington Bureau: 9/15/2006 11:45:00 AM ET | Permalink
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