E. coli Spinach Lawsuits Settled for Wisconsin Family
November 29th, 2007 amy
One of many Wisconsin families sickened by E. coli contaminated spinach in the autumn of 2006 have finally reached a settlement, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. The family’s children, ages 6 and 3, became severely ill after eating the spinach in August of 2006.
The Grintjes’ six year old boy suffered a potentially deadly form of kidney failure and had to have multiple blood transfusions.
The FDA issued a warning of the spinach E. coli outbreak on September 14, with recalls issued by Natural Selection Foods on various bagged spinach brands the next day. By this time, at least one death and multiple hospitalizations had already occurred, including the
illnesses of the Grintjes children. Per FDA reports, the
contaminated Dole brand Baby Spinach resulted in 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths.
On March 23, 2007, the FDA issued a press release reporting that investigators were unable to definitely determine how the contamination originated, but that they had successfully identified the environmental risk factors and the areas that were most likely involved in the outbreak. Per the report, environmental risk factors for O157:H7 contamination included “the presence of wild pigs, the proximity of irrigation wells used to grow produce for ready-to-eat packaging, and surface waterways exposed to feces from cattle and wildlife.”
This very publicized recall prompted researchers at the Rutgers Food Policy Institute (FPI) to study the U.S. food recall system (results were published at www.foodpolicyinstitute.org) by calling 1,200 Americans in the month of November 26 and conducting a survey about the spinach recall. 87% of Americans had heard about the recall, which was widely publicized, much more so than most recalls. Only 52% understood that E. coli was the reason for the recall, and most did not understand what E. coli was or the symptoms to look for. 22% thought rashes were a symptom of E. coli infection, while 77% thought fever was a sign of the illness. Many surveyed were unclear as to the facts of the recall, including when it would be safe to eat bagged spinach again (5% said never) and if canned or frozen spinach were affected.
