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Report links Kern farm to 2006 e. coli outbreak
Food safety investigators have concluded that a Kern County farm is responsible for an e. coli outbreak in late 2006 that sickened more than 80 people in Iowa and Minnesota. Tainted lettuce served by Taco John’s locations in Iowa and Minnesota was grown at the Wegis Ranch in Buttonwillow, according to a report on the outbreak released last week. More than 80 people in both midwestern states reported becoming sick and at least 26 were hospitalized with e. coli infections after eating the lettuce. Of the five farms that grew lettuce served at Taco John's, positive samples of e. coli were only found at Wegis Ranch, according to the report. Positive samples were also found by investigators at two dairies next to Wegis Ranch. Samples from Wegis Ranch and the two dairies genetically matched the strain found in the Taco John’s lettuce. The two neighboring dairies are Maya and West Star North. The report does not definitively state how the lettuce at Wegis Ranch became tainted. However, it says the investigation revealed several points in a water distribution system at the farm where fresh water and dairy lagoon water flowed together. Inadequate "backflow protection devices" in the water system "presented a possible route for conveyance of contaminated water to fields adjacent" to fields where the lettuce suspected in the outbreak was grown, the report said. The report indicated that Wegis Ranch mixes dairy lagoon water from the neighboring dairies with freshwater to irrigate some animal feed crops it grows. The investigation and report were done by officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Public Health Food and Drug Branch. Check www.bakersfield.com later for full story. 11 comments from 6 users
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posted by
airqualityguy
on Feb 22, 2008 at 12:42 PM
In other words, Wegis ranch must be mixing dairy lagoon water with their irrigation water. I wonder if they have the necessary permits from the Regional Water Board to be doing this? posted by
adampayne
on Feb 22, 2008 at 01:47 PM
Having dairy farms, the way these businesses currently operate, in close proximity to food crops for people is a recipe for disaster. One of the most despicable forms of false advertising today is the California Dairy campaign, which shows cows in fresh fields roaming over lush pastures. I just passed the two dairy farms on Stockdale highway on my trip up north, along with the Harris Ranch feedlot this week, and I couldn't see a blade of grass for any of those cattle any where near their cages. I did see hundreds and hundreds of cattle standing and milling in their own waste. Yum's the word. posted by
dgrealish
on Feb 22, 2008 at 01:53 PM
Or, airqualityguy, it's peculating over. posted by
ChicoEsquela
on Feb 22, 2008 at 01:54 PM
we've got grass now thank the lord rain's been good of late agree don't like feedlots even though they can "bail you out" at times dairies either except they sure pay damn good for "replacements"!! posted by
dgrealish
on Feb 22, 2008 at 01:59 PM
Cows bloat on fresh grass. It ain't good for em. posted by
ChicoEsquela
on Feb 22, 2008 at 04:51 PM
Well, thats interesting dg, since I can walk out back and look over several sections (just that I can readily eyeball) and see several hundred head happily eating away on this fresh new grass we've got these last few weeks. Eatin the hell outa it. Been this way for the last decade I've been up here. And then some. Now, if you wuz ta cut it and put it in front of em in a manger situation, that might be true. They well might founder on that. Like too much green hay. But free rangin like we're a talking...... no way! Back in Tejas where it would stay green for long period (rained all season) that might could happen too. Gets real tall and stays green. As you know around here it will only be green for awhile then all the fillaree will turn brown. Wild oats and barley too. Horses will founder on green new grass much more than cows BTW. posted by
airqualityguy
on Feb 22, 2008 at 05:17 PM
What cows don't tolerate very well is corn. It makes them grow faster and produce more milk but it drives their stomachs crazy. All kinds of dangerous strains of E. Coli grow when a cow's stomach is upset. It all comes out with the manure. Even the flies can then spread the E. Coli around. So adampayne is correct. Don't mix food crops like lettuce with modern feedlot or dairy manure. It is almost as bad as putting the sewage sludge from LA on crop land. I read the distillers grains from the ethanol plants makes the E. Coli grow even worse in cow's stomachs. Forces the dairies to use even more antibiotics which are also spread onto the land or into the ground water from the unlined lagoons. posted by
ChicoEsquela
on Feb 22, 2008 at 05:22 PM
corn plays hell on dogs too some get big "heat" sores, etc. Corn is bad news on many animules! posted by
NancyII
on Feb 22, 2008 at 05:32 PM
Debra..remember back in the dairy days when customers would call complaining that the milk tasted bad? They always told them that the cows got into some green feed and it comes out in the milk. Our beef cattle grazed the hills and ate it green as well as brown. In the winter we grazed them down in Cummings Valley and in the Summer moved them up above the campground. Part of the winter we fed hay because of the snow. Ex would stand in the bed of the truck and yell whooooocow and they'd come out of the woodwork. Yeah...I miss those days...freezing with the window open...yeah..fun times. ptewy. posted by
maybelline
on Feb 23, 2008 at 10:05 PM
Why on earth do people buy processed vegetables like lettuce and those awful, carrot fingers?! I have suspected that the processing plants may contribute to the problem. Buy local. Buy fresh. Buy unprocessed. posted by
airqualityguy
on Feb 24, 2008 at 02:58 PM
It is sad that the Regional Water Board found both of the neighboring dairies in violation of waste water handling standards. If it wasn't for this case they would have gone on forever in the same way. These are both brand new, state of the art dairies from Southern California. How many more dairies in Kern County are in violation of these standards? No one is checking because the Regional Water Board only has about 3 inspectors for the entire San Joaquin Valley. What are the chances our own Environmental Health Services could start checking dairies on a regular basis? This is similar to the nearby dairy (about 2 miles east) that pumped its lagoon water onto an Ecological Preserve thinking no one would notice.
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