Unseen danger in bagged salads

Looking at bright, green fields of lettuce, it’s hard to believe it could ever make you sick. But if lettuce is contaminated with E.coli, it can be deadly.

Lori Olson says she’ll never eat a bagged salad again. Her daughter Amber almost died last fall after eating dole bag salad.  Olson and others who got sick want some answers, and are suing Dole foods.

In a letter to Dateline, Dole says it is “unable to comment” because of the pending lawsuits, and adds “food safety always has and will be our top priority.” The company says it is working “closely with government...to provide the freshest, cleanest fruits and vegetables possible.”

To solve the mystery of how bag salad is contaminated, state and federal health officials have launched a wide-ranging investigation. So far, that investigation shows that lettuce implicated in last fall’s outbreak was grown in seven different fields in the Salinas valley of California. It was processed at a Dole packing plant in Soledad. Beyond that, the government has no idea where the E.coli came from and spokesman Jim Gorney says the industry is just as mystified.

Lea Thompson, Dateline chief consumer correspondent: How does E.coli get into the lettuce?

Jim Gorney, food industry spokesperson: That’s the $10,000 dollar question. We’re really perplexed as to how this is occurring.

To see just how lettuce is handled, we decided to go out to the fields, and talk to farmers, scientists and experts.

NBC VIDEO Are bagged salads safe? April 28: With some reports of E.coli in lettuce, what steps can consumers take to avoid bacteria in their bagged salads? Chief Consumer Correspondent has more salad safety tips. MSNBC

Vic Smith owns a lettuce farm in Yuma, Arizona. Smith says he takes every precaution to keep his crop clean, even requiring workers and visitors to cover their hair when they walk in his fields.

Vic Smith, lettuce farm owner: The workers cut the lettuce, cutting each individual head, taking off the outer wrapper leaves and then they have a ring core thing - they take the core right out of it.

The practice of coring the lettuce right in field only started a few years ago, about the time the E.coli outbreaks took an upturn.  While it speeds the cutting and processing time, some food scientists wonder if the cutting creates an opportunity for E.coli to enter the plant.

Smith: All the lettuce is funneled through a disinfectant chamber, to basically heal the cut, then it is immediately conveyed into a lined bin container. 

It is then chopped, sliced, mixed, and washed again at the packing plant.  Experts fear in the process, even a small amount of E.coli contamination can be spread around, and end up in many bags of salad, which then are shipped and distributed all over the county.  

But E. coli has been found in heads of romaine and iceberg lettuce too, which is not washed at all. It’s bagged in the field, refrigerated, and shipped directly to grocery stores.  At Smith’s ranch, workers chop and wrap the whole heads right next to the coring.

And what about those workers?

Thompson: I noticed you even got porta-potties over here so that nobody even thinks about relieving themselves in the field.

Smith: Absolutely, that’s a case for dismissal.

Since E.coli can be present in human and animal waste, there’s also concern about the use of fertilizer. Smith says he doesn’t use raw manure fertilizer anymore - most lettuce growers don’t.  But, there is always the chance birds could be nesting or dropping on the lettuce. Smith says he does what he can to keep them away.

Thompson: You’ve been growing lettuce for a long time, what do you think is causing this contamination?

Smith: Well, I couldn’t answer. I know we are doing everything we possibly can to control the risk exposure that we have with any potential contamination.

In California’s Salinas valley, water contaminated with animal feces is the leading suspect in three of the E.coli outbreaks. Investigators found before each one, these low lying fields had been flooded with creek water. A sample of the creek bed tested positive for E.coli 0157. And that’s a problem.

Scientists believe E.coli bacteria might have been absorbed by the lettuce plant’s root system.  If that happens, washing the lettuce won’t do any good—the E.coli is already growing inside. 

But Jim Gorney of the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association says all the theories are just that—theories.

Gorney: We believe California Department of Health services has put forward this flooding theory. But we don’t have any data to support that theory. I mean we’re really finding it difficult to understand exactly what went wrong.

Gorney says there’s no real proof the contamination is coming from the lettuce at all.

Thompson: Are you suggesting that this E.coli may not have come from bagged salad?

Gorney: Well, we have no smoking gun evidence to show that it’s definitely the bag lettuce. 

But wait: In Minnesota, the Center for Disease Control's Dr. Steve Swanson actually found E.coli inside a Dole bag salad, and its DNA matched the E.coli strain that sickened 26 people. He said it was a proverbial smoking gun.

The industry’s theory is somehow the outside of these lettuce bags was contaminated - in shipment, at the grocery store, or even in consumer’s homes. It suggests the E.coli only reached the lettuce after the bag was opened.

Dr. Steve Swanson, CDC:  I personally think that’s a preposterous theory. There is actually no way you can have contamination to the outside bag of the lettuce across three states, six different chains and different distributors.

Thompson: The Food and Drug Administration and the California authorities say that the E.coli outbreaks came from bag lettuce. You disagree?

Gorney: Well, it’s certainly their firm belief and we take it seriously. And we’re working on doing our best to reduce the possibility of illnesses to zero. At this point, it’s fairly unclear.

But the federal government is losing patience with growers and processors.

Dr. Robert Brackett, Food and Drug Administration: When the most recent outbreaks from Minnesota happened—that was sort of the last straw.

In a tough letter to California growers and processors, Dr. Robert Brackett of the food and drug administration expressed “serious concern,” with the  “continuing outbreaks of food borne illness associated with fresh and fresh-cut lettuce.” He wrote, industry “claims that ‘we cannot take action until we know the cause’ are unacceptable.” 

Brackett: We have a problem here.  We seeing these outbreaks.  You know, please pay attention to what you’re doing. We want the industry to think like the whole industry and see this as their problem.

So what do you do while we wait for the scientists and the experts to figure it all out?

• Even though bag lettuce is pre-washed, and is labeled ready to eat, experts say it doesn’t hurt to wash it again.
• Make sure your hands are clean and you keep the vegetables away from any raw meat.
• Keep that salad refrigerated.
• Check the expiration date before you eat it. Even if the lettuce looks good, you should know E.coli can grow quickly in deteriorating greens. 

Brackett: One case is one too many, and if we can find a way to solve the problem, to stop it in the future, that’s what we’re going to do.

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