Since the outbreaks of E. coli in spinach and salmonella in tomatoes this fall, restaurants around campus are changing the way they handle produce to appease customers who are concerned about becoming infected with food-borne illnesses.
In an Oct. 20 press release, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said 204 cases of E.coli had been reported in 26 states. No cases were reported in Massachusetts. Since the FDA warned consumers not to eat raw spinach after the first outbreak of E. coli occurred in California in September, restaurants have been phasing spinach back into their menus.
The most recent strain of salmonella caused 183 cases in 21 states, spreading from the consumption of tomatoes at restaurants that had become infected, according to a Nov. 3 press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the 183 people infected, 51 cases were in Massachusetts.
The CDC has said there is no continuing risk to the public. But many restaurant-goers are still unconvinced. And restaurants are being more careful about how they handle tomatoes and green, leafy vegetables.
Jordan Nikolov, general manager of Qdoba Mexican Grill on Commonwealth Avenue, said Qdoba has never served spinach but has begun taking more precautions with the washing of lettuce and other leafy vegetables.
“Of course, we basically implemented extra security measures as far as checking lettuce and other produce as a whole,” Nikolov said. “It comes pre-washed and we basically inspect it thoroughly just to make sure it’s clean and they don’t have any foreign particles inside.”
Nikolov said his workers have now been “double washing” the lettuce to ensure that each leaf is properly cleaned.
“I’m making sure that we follow proper washing procedures and having a reputable vendor [that supplies our produce] and that the product we served to the customer is 100-percent safe,” Nikolov said.
Lazarus Michaelidis, manager of University Grill on Commonweatlh Avenue, said he was not been concerned with the E.Coli outbreak in spinach because University Grill carries frozen spinach. But they are being more cautious in handling leafy produce, such as organic lettuce, which they use to make sandwiches and salads every day.
“We always wash [our greens],” Michaelidis said. “We’re being a little more careful and cautious [since the recent outbreaks of E. coli]. We get it from a reputable distributor. They have a good track record. We’re trying to be a little bit more responsible.”
Michaelidis warned consumers to be careful of organic lettuce because, generally, it is not cleaned as thoroughly as regular lettuce.
Distributors and consumers are not as careful as they should be when they wash organic material, he said.
Michaelidis said University Grill cooks thoroughly wash Romaine lettuce and always inspect it after washing. But they do not wash their iceberg lettuce, because when it is served, most of the layers are peeled off.
“We send [the Romaine] back if it doesn’t look right,” he said. “We’re a family-run business, so we try to keep on top of everything. It’s not just one person checking. It’s everyone, because we’re family owned and operated.”
Said Bendok, manager of Crispy Crepes on Park Drive in Boston University’s South Campus said he erred on the side of caution and removed spinach from his menu immediately after hearing about the E. coli outbreak on the news.
Bendok has replaced spinach in his crepes and omelets with mixed greens.
“I threw the spinach out, and I went to the warehouse,” he said. “They didn’t have spinach, but they had mixed greens. In the sandwiches, it’s OK, but in the salads it doesn’t taste the same. Spinach has its own flavor. A lot of people really like spinach.
“You don’t want to take any chances,” Bendok continued. “You don’t want to get your customers sick. They won’t come back.”
Bendok said although distributors inspect leafy green vegetables before delivering them, he inspects them again more thoroughly.
Cooks at Crispy Crepes use a multi-step process to clean their vegetables and prevent against contamination from meat products. They also take preventative measures to sanitize their preparation station and equipment before each use, Bendok said.
“First, we cut them, rinse them and let them sit for 10 minutes,” he said. “Then, we put them in the spinner. Afterwards, we rinse them again and inspect them again and put lemon juice on them to keep them from getting bad, and rinse them again and store them in the refrigerator.
“We are careful in how we refrigerate them. We separate all of the vegetables from the meat. We have notes on the freezer and refrigerator about how to store all the fruits and vegetables, and how vegetables can’t ever be open or near the meat,” he said.
Donna Rosenbaum, a food safety consultant with Food Safety Partners Ltd., said consumers do not realize that the most recent outbreak of E.coli was the twentieth in a long series of outbreaks over the last eight or 10 years.
“It’s not the first one, it’s just the most publicized one, because it happened so large, and it’s nationwide and had a tremendous amount of hospitalization with a lot of very ill people,” Rosenbaum said. “The writing’s been on the wall for a long time.”
Rosenbaum said E. coli was first known as the “hamburger disease” because it usually originates in cattle.
E. coli can come from cattle manure and other manure products that eventually make contact with the water that irrigates fresh vegetables. This manure-contaminated water is then used in sheds where products are packed to be shipped.
“If it has gotten into the produce, into the green leafy vegetables, at the time they’re growing, and it has gotten into the shoots of the stem, then it is inside the plant, and no amount of rinsing, except for treatment … is going to get it out of the plant,” Rosenbaum said.
Rosenbaum said she recommends consumers who are concerned about reducing their risk of infection purchase whole heads of produce and wash it themselves, rather than buying pre-rinsed bagged produce.
“That becomes problematic when you’re a student, because you have no control over that, and you have no idea if your service is using that prepackaged material or not, so the only thing you can do is keep your eyes open,” Rosenbaum said
She recommends that students eat cooked vegetables instead of raw ones to be extra careful.
Staff writer Teddy Weinberg contributed reporting to this story.