The Raw Truth of E. Coli The E. coli-spinach crisis is certainly
taking its toll on this country; everyday a new headline
reintroduces us to the severity of the situation. But what is E.
coli? And how does it affect people? Monica Davey of The New
York Times offers this sobering report: “What do you say when
your child asks you, am I going to die?” asked Elaine Krause,
who has spent nearly all of this month beside her son’s bed at a
hospital here, watching his skinny, lanky body do battle with E.
coli. “I told him, ‘These people are trying to help you, and you
are getting good care.’ But the truth is, I couldn’t answer him
directly. We didn’t know.”Given the potential seriousness of the
bacteria, parents like Krause are scratching their heads over
what to feed their children: By this weekend, a national
outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach grown in California
had sickened 170 people in 25 states and killed at least one
here in Wisconsin, where more people have grown ill than in any
other state. The aut