The sale of all spinach products made by the US manufacturer Natural Selection Foods has been suspended in Taiwan, the Bureau of Food Safety under the Department of Health announced yesterday.
The order was issued following a warning to consumers issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not eat fresh spinach after an outbreak of E. coli bacteria in the US that has killed one person and sickened more than 100 others.
Natural Selection Foods LLC recalled its packaged spinach throughout the US, Canada and Mexico as a precaution. The move came after US federal health officials said that some of those hospitalized in the outbreak reported eating brands of prepackaged spinach distributed by the company.
Eating food contaminated by the bacterium may lead to dehydration, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure or even death.
Children and the elderly are more vulnerable to the bacterium.
Bureau Director Hsiao Tung-ming (蕭東銘) told the Taipei Times in a phone interview that the spinach products did not have a large market share in Taiwan, but he said the products would not be permitted to be sold until the threat had passed.
He added that so far no colon bacillus infection cases resulting from eating the products had been reported in the nation.
According to the bureau, the sale of other products made by the company will not be banned.
It also urged people to cook spinach products made by other manufacturers before eating them.
As the investigation continues, other brands may be implicated, US FDA officials said.
At a Safeway grocery in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, many of the bagged produce shelves were empty on Saturday.
Anna Cairns said she had to settle for bags of iceberg green lettuce and Caesar salad, instead of her normal salad mix, which contained spinach.
"I have a bag of spinach in my refrigerator I need to throw away," said Cairns, 59.
Marina Zecevic, 49, of West Los Angeles, shopping at a Trader Joe's, said she made the mistake of serving creamed spinach to her kids the day the story broke.
"My sons started accusing me of premeditated murder," she said.
She felt the contamination issue was overblown.
"The minute we get the all clear, the spinach is back on the table," she said.
The FDA advised consumers not to eat fresh spinach or fresh spinach-containing products until further notice.
Some restaurants and retailers may be taking spinach out of bags before selling it, so consumers should not buy it at all, the FDA said.
Boiling contaminated spinach for more than three minutes can kill the bacteria, but simply washing won't eliminate it, the FDA warned.
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