HUNDREDS AFFECTED

Packaged Salads Causing Run On Bathrooms

By Miz J

HOMER SIMPSON IS RIGHT: You don’t win friends with salad. You also don’t reap health benefits like you used to. Health officials report that 145 Iowans have fallen ill from cyclospora infections that authorities believe arrived in prepackaged salad mix.

But don’t worry, CNN reports that the mix, of iceberg and romaine, red cabbage and carrot, have been recalled and removed from shelves…although it sounds like the damage has already been done.

Another 78 cases have been recorded in Nebraska, and breakouts are now occurring in 13 other states—Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Ohio—but the CDC says it’s unclear if the salad mix is a factor.

Cyclospora “infection causes watery, and sometimes explosive, diarrhea,” according to the Mayo Clinic. “The one-celled parasite …can enter your body when you ingest contaminated food or water. Fresh produce is the culprit in many cases of cyclospora infection.”

Maybe now’s a good time to start that organic garden (or window box).