Though government officials say the threat of contracting a
spinach-related illness is now minimal, UCLA Dining Services plans
to hold off on serving the vegetable in campus dining halls at
least until students are convinced.
In response to the recent outbreaks of E. coli in spinach crops
from California growing regions, Dining Services has stopped
serving spinach in all dining halls and does not know when it will
start again, officials said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration alerted the public on
Sept. 14 that an outbreak of E. coli in spinach crops had led to
several cases of serious illness and one death. Since then, nearly
200 cases of illness and three deaths in 26 states have been
reported.
Connie Foster, associate director of Housing and Hospitality
Services, said Dining Services acted on the warnings
immediately.
“We get industry alerts, and we immediately pulled all the
spinach off our shelves,” she said.
UCLA does not receive any spinach from the affected producer,
Foster said, but Dining Services decided to hold off on serving the
vegetable anyway as a precaution.
The infected spinach was traced to Natural Selection Foods, a
grower based in San Juan Bautista, Calif., according to the
FDA.
But Foster added that removing spinach from Dining’s
cupboards has had little effect on daily menus.
Dining Services typically uses about 1,000 pounds of spinach per
month, compared to 5,700 pounds of chopped romaine lettuce and
8,400 pounds of salad mix.
Foster said Dining Services is currently evaluating whether to
start serving spinach again.
“Just because of the perception (that spinach is still
unsafe), we’re keeping it out for now,” she said.
Karen Paulson, a second-year biology student and a fan of
spinach, said she would rather have Dining Services hold off on
serving the vegetable until it can be sure it’s safe.
“I miss it, but it’s good that they’re not
serving it because they’re ensuring that students don’t
get sick,” she said.
Even vegetarian menus have not changed much, Foster said.
“Spinach is not a major part of our vegetarian
menus,” she said.
“We have other vegetarian options.”
Still, she said recipes have been modified when necessary.
Lauryn Gold, a second-year English and philosophy student who is
also a vegetarian, said she had not even noticed that spinach was
missing from the daily offerings in the dining halls.
She added that the removal of spinach from the dining halls does
not seem to have taken a serious toll on the vegetarian menu.
“There weren’t that many vegetarian options
anyway,” she said.
Foster said she did not think Dining Services had received any
complaints from students regarding the lack of spinach.