When the Outbreak Hit
You know how some people remember exactly what they were doing at certain moments in history – when Princess Diana died, when JFK Jr. was shot, when the man walked on the moon? That’s kind of how it was with me on that fateful September day when the news of the E.coli outbreak in fresh spinach broke. I was just sitting down with a cup of tea to grab a peek at the news.
And there it was: A reporter holding up a random bag of spinach at the grocery store saying to throw it away if you have any at home – it could kill you. Was this a little too sensational for my journalism tastes? Maybe. But it made its point – and it did inform consumers of a potential danger. I flipped the channel, and I heard words such as “threat” and “lurking” and “danger.”
Right then I knew it was going to get very busy at work – with information coming at us from all angles: processors, industry suppliers, other media, consumers. And that held true starting from the instant I turned on my computer and answered the first phone call. In fact, I’m still getting several e-mails a day with questions or comments on the spinach situation.
But it wasn’t just at work where it got crazy. I love spinach. It’s always on my shopping list and in my refrigerator. But I couldn’t find it anywhere. Shelves were, obviously, empty in the produce aisles, and restaurants surely couldn’t sell it. The one place I lucked out was at the local farmers’ market. I bought a bag of spinach – so “fresh” it came complete with a worm and some dirt. During this time I overheard many consumers talking about spinach or making comments to the people they were shopping or dining with – all of them negative about a delicious, healthful product.
On one of my excursions to a local restaurant, I was standing in line behind a man ordering toppings for his burrito. He passed up the lettuce when asked and jokingly said to me, “I don’t want to catch a disease.” Little did he know who he was talking to. Without being too rude or snide, I politely ordered lettuce on my burrito and told the man in front of me that I love lettuce and that it’s good for you. But I wanted to tell him that he should be more afraid of the germs on the $20 bill he just handed over or those on the door handle or on the straw he just put in his mouth or on the community salt shaker. But I didn’t.
I kept looking at the grocery stores for spinach to make grand reappearance. But it didn’t come back quickly, not even after FDA limited the advisory to just California-grown spinach, not even after it was narrowed down to the county level. It’s finally back on the shelves, and slowly re-entering consumers’ grocery carts.
As soon as I could, I bought a couple of bags of spinach salad – and it tasted so good. I have faith that this industry is going to come back because the product is a good one. It’s not going to be an easy journey, and it’s not going to happen over night, but I have faith that consumers will trust spinach again. In the meantime, I’m going to lead by example – and eat as much fresh spinach as I can.
Fresh Cut’s assistant editor, Scott Christie, has been closely following this issue, and we’ve included a full report. Scott also talked to some experts on crisis communications, and we offer some tips.
