Canada widens warnings to include all U.S. spinach in face of E. coli outbreak
Fears over a widening E. coli outbreak in the U.S. prompted Canada on Monday to expand an advisory against bagged spinach to include all fresh spinach products grown in that country.
A second U.S. company, River Ranch Fresh Foods, issued a recall of its spring mix products that contain spinach in Canada on Monday. Its brands include Hy-Vee, Farmer's Market and Fresh and Easy.
''Basically all spinach products (it) doesn't matter if it's loose, packaged or is mixed with other lettuce that is coming from the U.S. Canadians should not eat that spinach,'' said Rene Cardinal, acting national manager for the CFIA's fresh fruit and vegetable program.
One person has died and more than 100 have fallen ill as a result of an E. coli outbreak in the U.S. that authorities believe is linked to spinach. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued an advisory on Friday warning people against eating any bagged spinach products that originated south of the border.
On Friday, Natural Selection Foods, a California-based company, issued a recall on all of its spinach products in Canada that have ''Best if used by dates'' between Aug. 17 and Oct. 1. The company's brands include President's Choice, Dole, Earthbound Farm, Emeril, River Ranch and Nature's Basket.
So far, no reports of any illnesses have surfaced in Canada, according to Alain Desroches, spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
But since U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't been able to identify the source of the outbreak, Canada decided Monday to expand an advisory against bagged spinach to include all spinach products from the U.S.
''One of the problems that we face, or FDA is facing, is that with the number of illnesses, they couldn't find one particular company,'' Cardinal said. ''To the public, we say 'Don't consume spinach.'''
Canadians should avoid all spinach products from the U.S., including fresh-cut lettuce that contains spinach leaves and any loose spinach on sale.
Spinach could have become contaminated with E. coli bacteria in a number of ways, but most likely occurred through problems with animal manure, he said. For instance, manure can become contaminated with bacteria if it isn't composted properly. Problems can also arise if there is runoff of manure into a water supply. It's also possible that E. coli could have spread to spinach crops through a human that was infected with the bacteria, Cardinal said.
Cardinal said Canada's food agency is working with importers and wholesalers to determine where U.S. spinach products were sold and distributed in Canada. While the agency can't survey 100 per cent of retail stores in the country to ensure they've pulled U.S. spinach off of their shelves, he said officials do random checks to ensure compliance.
It's unclear when the advisory against U.S. spinach will be lifted, he said, particularly considering officials south of the border still haven't determined how and where the supply became contaminated.