CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 November 20, 2018, 05:22:03 pm For your info. CDC alert on Romaine Lettuce in any kind of packaging or form. Romaine lettuce is not safe to eat, CDC warns U.S. consumers - The Washington... 3 Likes
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #1 – November 21, 2018, 01:47:17 am Thanks John for the head up. I just tossed the remaining Romaine. I wonder what they are going to do to lessen the incidence of this. Isn't this the second time in a year? Perhaps they need many more portable hand washing stations in the fields.
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #2 – November 21, 2018, 08:56:49 am Quote from: Wanatrvl - November 21, 2018, 01:47:17 amThanks John for the head up. I just tossed the remaining Romaine. I wonder what they are going to do to lessen the incidence of this. Isn't this the second time in a year? Perhaps they need many more portable hand washing stations in the fields.OK I have to chime in here. In my brief OTR truck driving period I was once waiting for a load and was parked next to an orange orchard. It had been picked but I saw lots of remaining fruit hanging here and there so I went out with a bag and did a little gleaning to kill time and stock up on some good food. Years of trash had built up under the trees from pickers lunches and some portable outhouses were still there that were overfull. The ground had piles of crap around and you had to watch your step. After this behind the curtain glimpse into how our food is picked I started washing everything in a sink of water with some bleach added to it. 1 Likes
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #3 – November 21, 2018, 09:43:40 am Here's is a more in depth article from the NY Times on this issue.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/health/romaine-ecoli-outbreak-cdc.html?fallback=0&recId=1DIkqgpDabpiZgTNteEMp7TGGuY&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=OR&recAlloc=geo_trending&geoCountry=US&blockId=most-popular&imp_id=465305515I did read someplace (getting old) I don't remember now that the food stream is not any better or any worst. It's we have a better communication system today then in olden days IE a few years ago.
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #4 – November 21, 2018, 10:38:12 am Yes, this is the second recall of romaine lettuce within the past year. I wonder why romaine and not other lettuces, too?The last recall was of romaine lettuce from the Yuma area. Turns out that the fields were being watered with water that contained runoff from nearby stockyards.
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #5 – November 23, 2018, 11:53:04 pm I am super impressed by the irrigation systems they use in Yuma, apparently they use lasers to get their fields completely flat and then use the ditch system to run water all over the fields thus creating amazing fields of crops throughout the desert, BUT, I could see how it would be easy to get contaminated water using that system.
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #6 – November 24, 2018, 09:41:55 am We have always used "manure tea" to fertilize our garden and never had any problems but it's poured on around the plants not over them. Fecal contamination wouldn't happen from irrigation unless it was somehow splashed onto the lettuce itself.
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #7 – November 24, 2018, 10:10:18 am Quote from: Sawyer - November 24, 2018, 09:41:55 amFecal contamination wouldn't happen from irrigation unless it was somehow splashed onto the lettuce itself.And that's what happened in Yuma. As AlphPup said, "...then use the ditch system to run water all over the fields...". In otherwords, they flood the fields with water.Here's a link to an image showing field irrigation in the Yuma area. Although it's kind of hard to tell, you can see the standing water in front of the rows of crops.https://c7.alamy.com/comp/X16N4R/lettuce-just-forming-heads-being-heavily-irrigated-dome-valley-near-yuma-arizona-X16N4R.jpg
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #8 – November 24, 2018, 11:18:52 am Quote from: Linda Hylton - November 24, 2018, 10:10:18 amAnd that's what happened in Yuma. As AlphPup said, "...then use the ditch system to run water all over the fields...". In otherwords, they flood the fields with water.Here's a link to an image showing field irrigation in the Yuma area. Although it's kind of hard to tell, you can see the standing water in front of the rows of crops.https://c7.alamy.com/comp/X16N4R/lettuce-just-forming-heads-being-heavily-irrigated-dome-valley-near-yuma-arizona-X16N4R.jpgLooks like most of the lettuce is high and dry but some does appear to be touching the water which definitely could contaminate it
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #9 – November 24, 2018, 01:39:33 pm "...apparently they use lasers to get their fields completely flat ..."The use of lasers to level fields is quite common in the upper Sacramento Valleywhere they grow tons of rice.Heck, my contractor used a laser to level the parking pad upon which my LD sits. It's dead level for sure!
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #10 – November 24, 2018, 02:27:19 pm Quote from: Sawyer - November 21, 2018, 08:56:49 amOK I have to chime in here. In my brief OTR truck driving period I was once waiting for a load and was parked next to an orange orchard. It had been picked but I saw lots of remaining fruit hanging here and there so I went out with a bag and did a little gleaning to kill time and stock up on some good food. Years of trash had built up under the trees from pickers lunches and some portable outhouses were still there that were overfull. The ground had piles of crap around and you had to watch your step. After this behind the curtain glimpse into how our food is picked I started washing everything in a sink of water with some bleach added to it. Feeling a little ill reading this, but not surprised. How much bleach do you put in the sink water? Geez, I'm going to have bleach spots on everything I wear!
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #11 – November 24, 2018, 04:01:44 pm "How much bleach do you put in the sink water?"----Using bleach to "decontaminate" fruits and vegetables is not necessary; use plain water, rub the surface of the product gently, and, if one is really concerned about the cleanliness of the product, immerse the fruit or vegetable in a water bath with a bit of baking soda or cider vinegar for 10 minutes or so. Rinse the product under running water. One can lightly scrub the outsides of hard-shelled produce like melons, winter squash, etc., with a brush, but using soap and/or "vegetable washes" does not increase effective cleaning. To clean lettuces or any leafy greens or pretty much any other product that one is not going to peel before eating, rinse each "leaf" under running water; use a salad spinner to remove excess water from the produce. Understand that washing fruits and vegetables will remove surface dirt, and may reduce the levels of pesticides and insecticides found on virtually all conventionally-grown produce in varying amounts, but washing will not render a contaminated, e.g., with e. coli, listeria, campylobacter, etc., product safe to eat. Even (legitimately) organically-grown produce can harbor "bugs" and pesticide residues, albeit of different kinds and generally of lesser concentration if the product is truly an organic one; standards for "organic" produce are all over the lot, and marketing buzzwords like "all natural" are very often misleading. One might be interested in the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" lists:2018 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Lists Rank Produce Items by Pesticide...If in doubt, investigate the source of the product, and, if possible, buy fruits and vegetables in season, and research local-to-you resources for finding and buying organically grown produce (with the caveat stated above that even organically grown product will not be entirely free of residues!).I suggest doing "food supply chain" research; the alternative is to stop eating.As always, YMMV. 1 Likes
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #12 – November 24, 2018, 05:22:48 pm Here is an article about disinfecting vegetables in Mexico. Considering how much of our foodstuffs come from Mexico, particularly in the off-season, it's worth a read. About 10 years ago an E-Coli outbreak involving spinach. The origin was traced to a field in the Central Coast hills south of Salinas. They found the field had been contaminated by feral pigs that would cross the fields to feed in the grape vineyards.The pigs are problematical in that and other areas. I learned 3 safety strategies from a parasitology class years ago: don't eat, don't drink, and don't breathe.I follow none of them. 1 Likes
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #13 – November 24, 2018, 06:29:12 pm Quote from: Wanatrvl - November 24, 2018, 02:27:19 pmFeeling a little ill reading this, but not surprised. How much bleach do you put in the sink water? Geez, I'm going to have bleach spots on everything I wear!I just put a good size splash in and mix it up good. Then I let the produce soak a while before rinsing with clean water. I read somewhere this not only disinfects but helps produce last longer without rotting by killing the bacteria on it. Never did a comparitive controlled study but things do seem to last longer, especially grapes.
Re: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 Reply #14 – November 28, 2018, 04:51:42 pm Just found this article on the web a few minutes ago.Farmers frustrated after tainted romaine tied to Central Coast – Red Bluff...
Topic: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 (Read 342 times)
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Topic: CDC Food Alert, 11/20/2018 (Read 342 times)
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