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U.S officials probe farms for E.coli outbreak
19/Sep/2006: Officials from the Food and Drug Administration are searching nine farms in Monterey County's Salinas Valley in the state of California for the outbreak of E.coli.
These farms are growing spinach for some of the groceries. So far, 131 people were reportedly suffering from illness due to spinach-borne E.coli.
The officials have launched a probe to find the root cause for the outbreak of E.coli. The officials after identifying some of the farms in Salinas Valley are closely looking at the agricultural practices, irrigation and drainage apart from harvesting of the produce. They are also looking for clues on animal activity closer to the farms that might carry E.coli on to the fields.
The nation’s “salad bowl”, as the Salinas Valley is known, is facing a crisis over cultivating the green spinach. In fact, the production of spinach more than doubled to 32,000 acres and the spinach in the farms is allowed to wither away now.
Though the outbreak of E.coli is linked to fresh baggy spinach, the scientists are clueless how the produce is contaminated. The challenge before the researches is to find out how these organisms got into the produce? Apart from this, the officials are also looking into the agricultural practices of green leafy vegetables on farming, harvesting and process of the produce.
Chandra Sekhar
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