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Manure suspected for E. coli spinach contamination
SALINAS October 13, 2006 5:58am 
• Nearby pasture may have been source • No final answers yet Manure from a pasture adjacent to spinach fields in the Salinas Valley may have been the source of E. coli bacterial contamination of fresh spinach that has killed three people and sickened nearly 200, the state says.
The unidentified cattle ranch leases some of its land to spinach growers.
The California Department of Health Services says its found microscopic evidence that E. coli bacteria found in manure from the ranch had the same characteristics as the strain of E. coli blamed for the contamination.
It is unclear how – if it did – the manure contamination moved from the ranch to the spinach fields.
Being investigated are possible contamination of irrigation water, tainted fertilizer, dirty farm equipment, improper farm worker sanitation practices and even wild pigs which might have gotten through fences.
“It is very encouraging that we are getting closer to finding the source of the E. coli contamination in the bagged spinach from California’s Central Coast,” says George Gomes, administrator of the California Farm Bureau Federation in Sacramento. “We are pleased the scientific investigation yielded the kind of information that we need to evaluate how we can create additional safeguards for our fresh produce.”
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