E. coli round-upExperts look for source of recent outbreak
Possible culprits include contaminated water, unsanitary packaging, and storage in humid conditions
Unanswered in media coverage of the recent E. coli outbreak is the question of the source of the bacteria. E. coli typically lives in the intestines of mammals, which then excrete it wherever is convenient. Cows, however, do not typically roam through spinach fields, though there can be little doubt they would consider the idea a bovine Disneyland. One possible source is irrigation water. A 2003 California law governing the production of organic agriculture permits the use of reclaimed or municipal water, and it is possible such water was contaminated by run-off from cattle fields. Another possible source is the packaging of the spinach itself. Recall that only bagged spinach was contaminated, and some suspect the bags were either not stored under sanitary conditions, or were stored in santitary but overly-humid conditions that permitted a small amount of E. coli to grow rapidly.
-read more in this One Bakersfield report
