Quote Originally Posted by Karen
They say you can have spinach safely IF you cook it.

"E. coli 0157 on fresh produce can be killed by heating at 160 F for at least 15 seconds."

Or you can use frozen spinach.
[/FONT]I heard that, too, and may have to resort to frozen (yuck!) unless I can muster the courage to try locally (NJ) grown . . . it was so convenient to buy a pre-packaged bag of baby spinach leaves and sprinkle them over my evening meal and then microwave for a few minutes. The frozen is so overcooked and watery. I am thinking of substituting maybe Kale, which is supposed to also be rich in nutrients. Thus far, the grocery stores are not even carrying any locally grown spinach. I had read in the newspaper that since NJ is one of the leading producers of spinach, the farmers were going to "test the waters" to see if they can sell any of their remaining crops, or have to plow under. Could be they decided that consumers are simply too scared to buy spinach, no matter WHERE it was grown.

This whole incident makes me wonder what other fruits and vegetables could be suseptible . . . and here I always thought fruits/veggies were safer to ingest than meat, virus/bacteria-wise. I would never go back to meat, but am not so trusting of the safety of what I buy at the farm stands or supermarket any longer.