One of my kids is very concerned. Her daughter is a picky eater who eats a lot of blueberries. My daughter has been hit hard this year with illnesses isn’t willing to take chances. My daughter also is allergic to sulfa drugs.
4 Likes
Interesting. Colorado shows dark blue. But per this article (today) it wasy 2 days ago 150 confirmed cases. I suppose the dark blues are hard to interpret on that map.
you can look up state data. Our state showed quite a few cases but the state data showed them in isolated spots within the state.
The latest available data on California indicates the cases are not related to the national outbreak, and within normal parameters.
And at least in San Diego, tons of alternatives to Taco Bell, not that there’s any real evidence their supply chain was compromised.
1 Like
I looked at Virginia’s page and they say we aren’t experiencing anything past the usual summer uptick here. I live on the NC border and their page says they are experiencing an increase, but I didn’t see anything about where the cases were. I haven’t heard of anyone having it around here.
We eat a lot of bagged salad, especially in the summer, though never Taylor farms. I admit I don’t wash thoroughly. This week one of my items called for baby spinach. I bought that bagged and tried to wash it better. Hopefully that’s good enough. I would worry about it more if I lived in Michigan or Ohio or a state that is hard hit, but I probably won’t buy any bagged salad this week or next. I don’t mind going light of veggies lol
We don’t have air conditioning, and so there’s a de facto “don’t use the stove or oven” rule that’s in place during the summer.
And we eat a LOT of salads, buying lots of salad greens, bags and boxes of arugula, kale, etc.
I agree - this would be a lot easier to handle in the winter when we want to eat hot food and cook everything.
6 Likes
We recently added minisplits, but we still stick with our rule of no appliances with a heating element indoors when it is hot. Lots can be done on the grill, and I use Instapot and air fryer outside just off the kitchen.
We are sticking with Greek salads and the likes for now even though our state hasn’t been hit with this yucky thing.
Look at the study I linked upthread. They researched what washing methods were best to remove cyclospora from blueberries and raspberries. You can remove 98% of it from blueberries with the right washing techniques. It hides on raspberries a little more but they got to up to 89% with a 1 part vinegar 3 part water wash for 1 minute. Using a salad spinner also helped. They studied that separately. So I am doing a plain water wash then a vinegar and water wash and soak then a rinse followed by a spin in the salad spinner. I feel good about that.
1 Like
I just bought a lot of berries, I think I’m going to make a gluten free crisp and not take my chances even though I washed well (and who doesn’t like a crisp).
8 Likes
Not surprisingly, berries are super cheap right now. As I can never resist a good grocery deal, I may buy several containers and just cook them down and freeze in cubes to use as my yogurt topper.
5 Likes
I eat berries and plain Greek yogurt at least 4 mornings a week, I did save enough berries for one, although I am not the only one here who it’s this regularly. The raspberries on our bush are still small but at least red. I should try getting used to frozen.
yes, this is my breakfast most mornings, as well. Although I prefer fresh, I find the frozen raspberries at Trader Joe’s are a pretty good substitute. Frozen blueberries are fine, too, but I think frozen strawberries are 
I’ll have to see how I like an unsweetened compote, maybe that will be the answer.
2 Likes
Our daughter brought us angel food cake… I opted to buy frozen mixed berries for the shortcake. Part of me thinks there is always an uptick of this kind of thing in summer (much like flu in winter). But there are enough unknowns for this brewing crisis that we are feeling cautious before travels next week. I did buy a head of lettuce, discarded more outer leaves than usual an washed well.
1 Like
One of my sons eats frozen bananas and mango constantly, and I agree about the strawberries, just mush. I wish I liked smoothies, back in the day I did, and always used the triple berry frozen mix. Maybe I overdid it.
For the yogurt and berry lovers, I have always taken my fruit that isn’t perfect but not past eating and put it in the microwave with just a tad of sugar (like 1/2 tsp per cup of fruit) and made a compote of sorts and refrigerated. I add that to my plain whole yogurt and add some nuts or seeds or homemade granola to the top - even just a spoonful - to get a little crunch or bite to the concoction since the fruit can’t star that way.
2 Likes
So for those of us allergic to sulfa antibiotics, are the alternatives fairly effective also?
And interesting all the people mentioned here being allergic. When I told my doctor I was he seemed doubtful like it was something rare. Twice I had hallucinations after taking it and one of those times, a miserable Christmas, I lost most of the feeling in both hands which went away when I stopped taking it.
1 Like
The alternative meds are less effective & have side effects that can be an issue for some. My S took a lot of Bactrim as a baby/ toddler due to constant ear infections (thank goodness they now do tubes sooner than they used to). At some point, he had a reaction & we assumed he is allergic to sulfa. I told him that if he ever needs a sulfa drug, he should probably consult an allergist to ascertain whether he does have an allergy, just in case he doesn’t.
1 Like
I have missed this point somehow. Is the typical treatment a sulfa drug? I too (.though it’s been decades) am allergic to sulfa .
1 Like
Yes
1 Like
I feel bad for Taco Bell because it’s my understanding that it has not been traced to them. But they removed lettuce as a precaution because it’s not known what is safe, so because they were proactive, it’s assumed they are the guilty party.
1 Like