what's going on at ARS?

**m* l* <m*@earthlink.net>**

A few days ago, i received a post from ARS-USDA saying "In 
experiments, the scientists exposed romaine lettuce leaves to E. coli 
O157:H7 and found that, after 24 hours, populations of the microbe 
were 10 times higher on young leaves than on middle ones....One 
explanation: The young leaves offer more nutrition for E. coli. They 
exude about three times more nitrogen and about 1.5 times more carbon 
than do the middle leaves...."  I wrote to them complaining that in 
my experience, the old leaves are the outside ones, the young leaves 
ARE the middle ones.  I've not received a response, but I think 
they're dead wrong.

Now this morning, another ARS report, on testing "combining the use 
of several sanitizers, including the new formulation, with ultrasound 
as a means to enhance the efficiency of sanitization (of leafy 
produce) prior to bagging. They conducted a study to determine the 
effects of selected sanitizer ingredients, with or without 
ultrasound, on the reduction of Escherichia coli populations on 
spinach. ...The highest E. coli reduction was 4.5 logs--meaning the 
bacteria decreased from about 300,000 colony-forming units to less 
than 10. This reduction was achieved through combining the newly 
formulated wash solution treatment with ultrasound treatment."

Do these people not know where the deadly e.coli bacteria come 
from?  It comes from the gut of grain-fed large animals, cattle, 
especially.  Are we to expect our leafy greens to be so regularly 
contaminated by e.coli that they have to be cleaned in a special 
way?  I read the spinach outbreak was eventually chalked up to a wild 
boar's having run through a feedlot then a spinach patch.  Does that 
happen a lot?

I think, as garden writers, it is incumbent on us to critique these 
reports for the public.  The public has a right to know what these 
government institutions are doing with tax money.  Moreover, "less 
than" 10?  What happened to "fewer"?  Margaret Lauterbach

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