Spinach off the menu locally

By BRAD DICKERSON
Glasgow Daily Times

GLASGOW September 22, 2006 01:30 pm

— As health officials continue to investigate a national E. coli outbreak, local restaurants have taken preventative measures.
With spinach listed as the prime suspect, managers have taken the vegetable off its menu following a national recall.
“We use spinach daily and in an abundance, but when the recall went out we threw it all away,” Lori An Hampton, manager at Grace Hall’s, said.
Hampton reported one of the restaurant’s big sellers was a spinach salad, which can no longer be offered until health officials give the all clear.
“We have lots of people who are eating healthy and are upset that they can’t get the spinach salad, which was a popular item,” Hampton said.
Since the outbreak began, at least 131 people in 21 states have become sick, according to an Associated Press report. In Kentucky, seven cases of E. coli have been reported, including a male teenager from Kenton County who received outpatient treatment. This latter case was first reported on Wednesday by the Kentucky Department for Public Health.
The report also states that of the six other cases, only an Oldham County woman remains in the hospital.
A company in California, Natural Selection Foods LLC, recalled all its spinach products after people reported eating the multiple brands before they became sick.
When Bolton’s Landing co-owner Danny Young received a note from his supplier that there were problems with spinach, he decided not to order any until news reports said it was safe again.
“It’s not a regular item that we have,” Young said. “We just use it for specials.”
Brandy Crowe, manager of the Subway shop at T.J. Samson Community Hospital, used to have spinach as a sandwich topping before news started to spread of the outbreak.
“They called me Friday morning [Sept. 15] about 9 o’ clock and advised that we remove it and dump it,” she said. “We’re not even ordering it.”
Crowe added that a few customers came in that first day and asked for spinach to be put on their sandwiches. She explained the situation and said no complaints were registered.
“Nobody else has asked for it since then,” she said.
Hampton said that she is not sure when restaurants will begin to include spinach on their menus again. Besides spinach salads, she stated that the vegetable was used in different pastas and in preparing certain varieties of fish.
While those items remain on the menu, Hampton believed the lack of spinach took away a little something.
“It’s not as fabulous without it,” she said.