ALL:

In the, relatively, VERY, VERY SMALL universe of people I deal with,
two of them...

* my mother who turns 80 this year
* my nephew in his early 30's...

...have BOTH become violently ill in the past month with nausea.  They
live 100's of miles apart and we NOW BELIEVE that the culprit is
"supposedly pre-washed" grocery store "bagged" salad!!!!!!

Therefore, (amongst ALL the other WARNINGS going on in this day
and time) I feel I should WARN those of you who like salad to save
yourself a LOT of grief and wash ALL your lettuce thoroughly!!!!!!!

I found this on the Internet:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11549598/

Sometimes when I go out on a story, like we just did on E. coli
contamination of lettuce, I feel the same exhilaration that we all
had when we got out of school for the day to go on a field trip.

This time Producer Jack Cloherty and I were off on a field trip —
a literal one — we set out to see the miles and miles of verdant
green lettuce growing in the fields of southern Arizona.

We went to Yuma, so close to the border of Mexico that you
could almost see it. It's set in a very sunny spot where the Gila
and Colorado Rivers converge. It's where Spanish conquistadors
and pioneers set off  for mysterious parts unknown.

And we went to Yuma to investigate a mystery. How is E. coli O157
getting into the lettuce crops in this country?

We met with farmers and ranchers who are as baffled as the
government is. They are all anxious to solve the problem because
E. coli can kill and it is also very bad for business.

• 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 Lea Thompson previews
Dateline’s Sunday report.

MSNBC

Some very nice people took us around and we saw the self-
imposed rules they follow to keep your lettuce safe. For instance,
workers wear hairnets in the field...those with "facial hair",
including our producer Jack, have to put nets on their beards.

A few things were surprising to me. Head lettuce is wrapped in
cellophane right in the field and shipped off to the grocery without
being washed. Now I understand why they tell you to wash your
lettuce before you eat it.

Much of the bagged lettuce you buy today is actually cored right
in the field. Workers use these big coring knives, and with one
twist they core out the heart of the plant, much like you might
core a pineapple. And, even though that lettuce then goes through
a chlorine bath, some experts worry the process might also allow
E. coli to get to the heart of the head.

We didn't solve the problem while we were there. But our trip did
help us understand how lettuce is grown and how animal or bird
droppings or flooding with contaminated waters could take E. coli
into a field. We also got great pictures.

E-coli in lettuce is a growing and serious dilemma. But, our
conversations with hard working investigators with the Centers
for Disease Control in Minneapolis, and with California authorities
tell us they are on the case.

LOVE AND BLESSINGS!!!

Calvin
Calmont48

PS:

STAY READY!!!!!!!

Luke 14:16-24
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2014:16-24;&version=31;
Matthew 25:1-13
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:1-13&version=31