Adam Tanner from Reuters wrote today – “Source of 2006 toxic spinach uncertain”

After a six-month probe, U.S. and state officials said on Friday they could not conclude how spinach became infected with toxic E. coli bacteria that killed three and sickened 205, but that wild pigs and well water were possible sources.

• “No definitive determination could be made regarding how E. coli O157:H7 pathogens contaminated spinach in this outbreak,” concluded a report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the California Department of Health Services.

• “Potential environmental risk factors for E. coli O157:H7 contamination identified during this investigation included the presence of wild pigs in and around spinach fields and the proximity of irrigation wells used for ready-to-eat produce to surface waterways exposed to feces from cattle and wildlife.”

• The study, which included detailed DNA analysis, traced 13 bags of Dole brand “Baby Spinach” from Natural Selection Foods with E. coli O157:H7 to four fields in California’s Monterey and San Benito counties. They then focused on one farm called Paicines Ranch which is mostly used for cattle grazing, with a small portion leased by Mission Organics, based in Salinas, to grow crops.

Firms linked to the spinach outbreak face about a dozen lawsuits from victims, said Bill Marler, an attorney who represents the three who died and 93 who fell ill.  “The industry just seems to have an inability to deal with this ongoing contamination problem and their voluntary guidelines that they have adopted will do nothing to protect the public,” Marler said. He said those who have fallen seriously ill in similar past cases have received settlements as high as several million dollars