Public Response to the 2006 Recall of Contaminated Spinach - Microbial Safety of Fresh Produce - page 360

Table 19.4. Likelihood of eating spinach as of November, 2006

Percentage

Have already eaten spinach 44%

Defi nitely will eat spinach in the future 20%

Likely to eat spinach in future 13%

As likely as not to eat spinach in future 10%

Unlikely to eat spinach in future 5%

Defi nitely will not eat spinach in future 5%

Don't know if or when will eat spinach in the future 3%

Note : N = 494.

Table 19.4). These respondents reported that it took a relatively short time (approxi-
mately 2 weeks) after the recall ended for them to resume eating spinach ( M = 14.50
days, SD = 12.01; Mdn = 14.00).
Those who had not yet resumed eating spinach at the time of the interview said it
would take an average of about 2 months for them to start eating fresh spinach again
( M = 56.98 days, SD = 74.81; Mdn = 30.00), with estimates ranging from 1 day to 1
year. Only 5% of those who had heard about the recall and who ate spinach prior to
it said that they would never eat fresh spinach again.

Demographics Related to Those Eating Spinach after the Recall
There were important demographic differences among those people who had already
begun eating spinach again as of November and those who had not. As shown in Table
19.5, among those who were aware of the recall and ate spinach prior to it, older
people ( χ 2 (4, N = 502) = 14.99; p < .005) and those with lower incomes ( χ 2 (3,

N = 430) = 20.53; p .001) were less likely to have eaten spinach since the recall

ended. Conversely, whites were more likely to have eaten spinach since the end of the
recall (

<

χ 2 (2, N = 487) = 8.65; p < .05). Education and gender were not related to

eating spinach after the recall.
In addition to the demographic predictors, two other variables are strongly related
to eating spinach after the recall. Those who ate spinach more frequently prior to the
recall were more likely to report having eaten spinach since the recall ended (

χ 2 (12,

N = 525) = 33.90; p .001), as shown in Table 19.6). Not surprisingly, those

Americans who were able to identify the recall as having ended were signifi cantly
more likely to report having resumed eating spinach (

<

χ 2 (2, N = 513) = 39.6, p < .0001).

Discussion and Conclusions
The results of the survey show that the main public health goal of the recall was met.
Most Americans heard FDA's message to consumers warning that bagged fresh
spinach had been contaminated and should not be eaten. Moreover, the data clearly
indicate that the majority of consumers did stop eating spinach during the recall. In
part, this was because the recall was effective at the retail level, so there was no fresh
spinach available for consumers to purchase or to eat. The survey also shows that the
recall was effective at the level of the individual consumer in that most discarded any
spinach that they had already purchased.