Tampering not suspected in E. coli outbreak linked to spinach

WASHINGTON — Tampering is not suspected in an outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach, federal health officials said Monday as they continued to probe the source of the contamination and warned consumers not to resume eating fresh spinach products.

The Food and Drug Administration has linked a California company's fresh spinach to the outbreak, which has killed one person and sickened at least 108 others. Investigators are working to pinpoint the source of the bacteria. Possible sources include contaminated irrigation water, known to be a problem in the state's Salinas Valley, a major produce-growing area.

"At this time we have no evidence supporting tampering," FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said.

The FBI is monitoring the situation, said FBI spokesman Rich Kolko. Kolko added it was a routine and precautionary measure, and is not indicative of any suspicious activity.

Bro also dismissed a claim by Natural Selection Foods LLC, the country's largest grower of organic produce, that its organic spinach products had been cleared of suspicion. "The FDA has not cleared any products from the list and continues to recommend consumers avoid eating fresh spinach products," Bro said.

The current cases are the latest in a string of 19 food-poisoning outbreaks since 1995 that have been linked to lettuce and spinach. At least eight were tied to produce grown in the Salinas Valley.

In 2004 and again in 2005, the FDA's top food safety official warned California farmers they needed to do more to increase the safety of the fresh leafy greens they grow.

"In light of continuing outbreaks, it is clear that more needs to be done," the FDA's Robert Brackett wrote in a Nov. 4, 2005, letter.

Suggested actions included discarding any produce that comes into contact with floodwaters. Rivers and creeks in the Salinas watershed are known to be periodically contaminated with E. coli, Brackett said.

Natural Selection has maintained its recall of 34 brands of fresh spinach products. However, the company said late Sunday the manufacturing codes from packages of spinach that had infected patients turned over to health officials all were from non-organic spinach. The company packages both organic and conventionally grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan Bautista, Calif. plant.

Those brands include the company's own labels and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection to produce or package its spinach.