Report on the Investigation of the E. coli Outbreak Linked to Dole Spinach

The following is an opinion piece by Fred Pritzker regarding the report on the E. coli outbreak linked to Dole baby spinach. To contact Fred Pritzker, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form.

On March 21, 2007, the FDA and California Department of Health Services issued a joint report entitled Investigation of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 Outbreak Associated with Dole Pre-Packaged Spinach.

While the report did not identify the precise cause of the bacterial contamination, it highlights a number of health hazards involving the fault of landowner, grower, packer and distributor of the spinach implicated in the E. coli outbreak that sickened over 200 people and killed at least three people, including Marion Graff, whose heirs are represented by my law firm, Pritzker | Ruohonen.

According to the report, the spinach that sickened and killed so many people was processed on August 15, 2006 by Natural Selection Foods, LLC (NSF), doing business as Earthbound Farm. NSF packed the spinach for Dole, and it was sold to the public as Dole brand Baby Spinach.

The spinach in question originated from a field located in San Benito County, California that was located on the Paicines Ranch, a large grass-fed beef operation. The spinach field was, in turn, leased to a ready-to-eat crop production company called Mission Organics that contracted with NSF to grow the spinach implicated in this outbreak.

The report shows there is plenty of fault to go around, including the manner in which the spinach was grown, harvested, cooled and processed. For example, with regard to the growth of the spinach, the report raises serious questions about the wisdom of growing ready-to-eat crops in close proximity to livestock and livestock waste, especially in the absence of detailed risk assessments intended to identify health hazards in or adjacent to the particular field in which the spinach was grown. The report also points to the need for water testing to determine fecal contamination, adequate standards for well construction and inspection and appropriate measures to prevent cross contamination by wild animals (in this case, there was strong evidence that feral pigs living in close proximity to the surrounding cattle and cattle waste tramped through the fields and spread the bacteria-laden feces on to the adjoining ready-to-eat spinach crop).

This spinach outbreak is hardly the first E. coli outbreak linked to leafy-green vegetables. In fact, in the last decade, there has been a score of such outbreaks resulting in injuries, death and economic loss that is almost impossible to comprehend. But here is the shocking part: despite this repetition of death and disease, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the California Department of Health Services, and the produce industry apparently have all gone on record against mandatory rules in favor of voluntary guidelines and industry self-policing. This is idiocy, pure and simple. As the west coast director of Consumers Union was quoted as saying, “How many more deadly outbreaks must there be?”

I have spent years representing seriously injured people harmed by foodborne illness outbreaks. In virtually every case, after the source of the outbreak has been identified, the producer responsible for the tainted product expends a great deal of time, energy and money trying to minimize the damage to the firm’s reputation. This damage control usually involves the hiring of experts and gnashing of teeth along with promises and commitments to implement new policies and procedures.

This pattern was repeated during the spinach outbreak. I watched one of the executives of NSF go before cameras and promise to assemble food safety experts and enact new practices that presumably would have prevented this outbreak from occurring in the first place. Why didn’t that happen before people got sick and died?

Until we force companies to take these precautions before their food products harm consumers, we will continue to see more of the same. Stringent rules and site specific analyses are required for every individual and entity along the production continuum extending from farm to table. As this and other outbreaks clearly show, food production is national and international in scope. That is why a relatively small field in one California county left a wake of misery that extends across our country. That is also why national standards are necessary to police agricultural practices and make sure they are finally made as safe as science and human ingenuity permit. This needs to happen before more people like Marion Graff die.

Fred Pritzker is the president of Pritzker | Ruohonen & Associates, P.A., one of the few law firms in the United States that has a focus in the area of foodborne illness litigation. The firm has recovered millions for victims of food poisoning, including a recent settlement for $6,425,000. To contact Fred Pritzker, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm's online consultation form.

For the full text of report entitled Investigation of an Escherichia coli O157:H7 Outbreak Associated with Dole Pre-Packaged Spinach, please see http://www.dhs.ca.gov.

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