Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
canned spinach and 57% knew that frozen spinach had
not
been recalled. This suggests
that there was a considerable amount of confusion about whether spinach products
other than those that had been bagged were safe to eat.
There also appears to have been some confusion about where the contaminated
spinach had been grown. This is important because this information was critical to
knowing which fresh spinach products were part of the ongoing recall and which were
safe to eat. When asked where the contaminated spinach was grown, only slightly
more than half (52%) of the respondents who were aware of the spinach recall cor-
rectly reported that the affected spinach had been grown in California; more than four
in ten (41%) reported that they didn't know. About 5% reported that the contaminated
spinach had been grown in states other than California, or in both California and other
states, and 2% percent provided other responses.
Knowledge about
E. coli
and Symptoms of Infection
Every press release from both the FDA and the CDC, as well as most news stories
concerning the spinach contamination and the resulting illnesses specifi cally named
E. coli
as the contaminant involved. Even with this widespread distribution of infor-
mation, only about half (52%) of the respondents who said they were aware of the
recall were able to correctly volunteer that
E. coli
was the contaminant that had caused
people to become ill. One-third (31%) said that they did not know what contaminant
had been involved, and a small number of incorrect responses were volunteered, such
as
Salmonella
(4%), animal waste (4%), or other general sources of exposure such as
“ a bacteria ” (2%) or “ a chemical ” (1%).
Most Americans were also confused about the symptoms associated with infection
by
E. coli
O157:H7 (Table 19.3). Beginning with its September 14, 2006, press
release, and in subsequent releases, the FDA described the symptoms of
E. coli
O157:H7 illness in the same way (U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2006a):
E. coli
O157:H7 causes diarrhea, often with bloody stools. Although most
healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop
a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is
most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead
to serious kidney damage and even death.
In its own Health Alert on September 14, 2006, the CDC specifi cally noted that “the
E. coli
O157:H7 bacterium causes diarrhea that is often bloody and accompanied by
abdominal cramps, but fever is absent or mild” (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention 2006a). When asked about a list of symptoms, the majority (87%) of
Americans correctly recognized that cramping (or abdominal cramps) is a common
symptom of
E. coli
infection. Although the CDC identifi es bloody diarrhea as the
distinguishing characteristic of
E. coli
O157:H7 infections, only about two-thirds
(64%) of Americans correctly recognized this as a symptom. Instead, they are more
likely to incorrectly associate the symptoms of nausea (88%) and vomiting (87%) with
an
E. coli
O157:H7 infection. Moreover, though fever is not generally associated with
E. coli
O157:H7 infections, more than three-quarters (77%) of Americans identifi ed
fever as a symptom, and nearly one-quarter (22%) indicated that rashes were a
symptom of
E. coli
infections despite the fact that rashes are not commonly associated
with any foodborne illness.
