Recent news reports warn consumers to discard fresh-bagged spinach and some are recommending caution with other fresh-bagged salad mixes. The cause for this warning is an outbreak of a toxic strain of ecoli.

Ecoli is found in the intestinal track and spread through animal and human stool and urine; it is common to find traces of the non-toxic strain in humans and rarely causes problems. It is when toxic strains are introduced to the body, and the body cannot battle it, that illness and sometimes death result.

Determining if a person "carries" the toxic strain is relatively simple through a blood test or culture test. Immigrants who enter the country legally are tested for numerous diseases. If found to carry any diseases that can be passed along to the general population, the potential immigrant is treated and retested, or rejected entrance. It is just common sense that those who test positive should be restricted from working in any phase of the food industry.

Illegal aliens are not tested, nor is it presumed California growers have invested money to test workers before putting them in the fields or processing plants. Portable toilets are not permitted in the fields with the crops; workers cannot afford to run to the nearest portable facility at the end of the field. Because they are paid by the amount they pick and not by the hour, they relieve themselves in the growing area. Those who carry the toxic strain, not only contaminate the vegetables but the soil as well.

This outbreak has been traced back to California where the highest concentration of illegal agriculture workers are found. Even if just a handful of illegal workers contaminate small sections of the field, once the vegetables are combined and processed, the problem becomes national.

Ecoli is spread by animals and humans. If California growers can’t show they changed their fertilizer source then humans are the only other contaminant. If the growers can’t (or won’t) show that their workers were tested for communicable diseases, prior to handling food to be distributed nationwide, this could be a fun time in the court system. Remember, washing ecoli contaminated vegetables will not remove the bacteria – in the processing plants or in the home.

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Maybe it’s time to demand answers to the hard questions. Yes, I would like to know which commercial farms processed and shipped contaminated spinach (and perhaps other greens), but more importantly, I would like to know the source of the contamination. If the growers don’t know HOW, how will they prevent it from recurring?