FDA finally catches up on potential spinach hazard

When the E. coli tainted spinach story broke last week, I said this:

What's not immediately clear is why loose or unbagged spinach hasn't been included in the FDA warning. I suspect that many people will make the cognitive leap and just exclude all spinach, bagged or loose, from their diets for a long while. I know I will.

And now the Food and Drug Administration has finally figured it out. Wonder why it took so long?

FDA to consumers: Don't eat ANY fresh spinach

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday consumers should not eat any fresh spinach as investigators look for the source of E. coli bacteria that has sickened at least 109 people.

The initial FDA advisory late last week focused on bagged spinach.

Dr. Robert Brackett of the FDA told CNN, "We've expanded the warning actually to all of the fresh spinach. That's because we learned that some of the companies that produced the consumer bag spinach also produced larger food-service size.

This is less than reassuring. Did the FDA really not consider that unbagged spinach might also be suspect? Brackett's explanation - "uh, yeah, we just now found that out" - makes you wonder about the decision-making processes of the folks who are supposed to be monitoring our nation's food supply.

(I yam what I cross-post...)