Consumers’ Response to the 2006 Foodborne Illness Outbreak Linked to Spinach

Consumers responded to the Food and Drug Administration’s September 2006 warnings to avoid eating spinach because of possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. While spinach expenditures fell, consumers turned to other leafy greens as substitutes. The longer term drop in retail expenditures on fresh spinach products was almost matched by gains in expenditures on other leafy greens.