UVALDE – Texas growers have begun producing more baby leaf spinach and have
measures in place to ensure its quality and consumer safety, said an industry
expert.
“We grow both our processed and fresh spinach for re-packers and don’t bag
any ourselves,” said Ed Ritchie, president of the Wintergarden Spinach Producers
Board. “To make sure we have as safe a product as possible, we sanitize all of
our mechanical harvesters daily and also clean and oxidate the
spinach-processing line each day it’s in use.”
Almost 100 percent of the state’s fresh-market spinach comes from the
Wintergarden region, Ritchie said. From 1,200 to 1,500 acres in this nine-county
region in Southwest Texas are currently used to grow fresh-market spinach.
“We have already increased production of fresh-market spinach, and growers
want to increase it even more to capitalize on the increased demand, which comes
primarily from more health-conscious and affluent consumers,” he said.
While processed spinach consumption has increased slightly in the U.S. in
recent years, the greatest increase in per capita spinach consumption has been
fresh-market spinach, said Jose Pena, Texas Cooperative Extension economist at
the Texas A&M University System Agricultural Research and Extension Center
in Uvalde.
The state’s overall spinach production is second only to California’s.
Recently, however, a fresh-market bagged spinach product from another part of
the country was identified as the source of E coli problems.
“Very little of the fresh market spinach grown in Texas is harvested for baby
leaf bag sales,” said Dr. Larry Stein, Extension horticulturist at the Uvalde
center. Stein said. “And we finished our 2006 spinach production in March and
April, so the E. coli situation isn’t one affecting Texas spinach at this time.
Still, we are mindful of the situation, especially now that we’re getting ready
again to plant spinach in this region.”
“There’s a lot that can happen to potentially contaminate the product,” said
Dr. Frank Dainello, Extension horticulturist for commercial vegetable crops.
“Even after the spinach leaves the processing facility, it’s exposed to a whole
new set of circumstances that may lead to product contamination.”
Processors and supermarkets often conduct third-party audits to check spinach
quality, but even these measures cannot always ensure a 100 percent safe
product, Dainello said.
“Generally, the most likely source of E. coli contamination in vegetables is
bovine manure,” said Dr. Alex Castillo, associate professor of food microbiology
with Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. “It’s very difficulty to kill a
pathogen once it’s in the plant. That’s why having practices to prevent initial
contamination is so important.”
Good safety practices need to be employed at every stage, from growing the
product to handling it in the home, Castillo said.
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has guidelines for good agricultural
practices and good manufacturing practices which greatly reduce the chance of E.
coli contamination,” he said.
Agricultural guidelines include showing farmers how to guard against soil and
water contamination, properly clean equipment for harvesting and use proper
hygiene for product handling, he said. Manufacturing guidelines also include
good hygiene practices for product handling, along with proper practices for
cleaning and sanitizing processing equipment and surfaces, and keeping food
products at the appropriate temperature.
“Some grocery stores also sanitize before putting the product out, but that
also may not be sufficient,” Castillo said. “And once you get the product home,
you need to be very careful not to cross-contaminate from other foods.”
To avoid cross-contamination, fresh market spinach should be bagged
separately and kept away from direct contact with other foods, he said. And
other home food safety measures include washing hands thoroughly before handling
the product, using clean cutting boards or surfaces to further prevent
cross-contamination and properly refrigerating the product.
“But the problem of E. coli cannot be addressed only at this link in the
chain or any other,” Castillo said. “It has to be an integrated approach, and
proper hygiene is the key for any part of the process.”
Information on good agricultural practices and good manufacturing practices
can be found at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov
.