Popeye will have to settle for canned or frozen spinach for at least another week.

Stores across the country have pulled bagged and bulk spinach products from their shelves in response to the discovery of an outbreak of E. coli where fresh, bagged spinach is believed by health officials to be the culprit.

Stores in Flagstaff are no exception to pulling spinach, or products containing fresh spinach, from the shelves.

"We have pulled all baby spinach and all products that contain baby spinach," said Bryan Aldridge, assistant store manager at New Frontiers Natural Marketpace in Flagstaff. "We got a phone call several days ago telling us to pull our baby spinach from the distributor."

In grocery stores and markets throughout the city, residents who want fresh spinach or spring mixes that contain spinach are being met with either empty shelves, or shelves restocked with bagged produce other than spinach.

At some stores, warnings are posted where the spinach has been removed.

One warning at Fry's on East Route 66 explained that the outbreak is likely associated with only bagged spinach products. But the store pulled bagged and bulk spinach and recommends to consumers that they destroy any if they have it, or return the bulk or bagged spinach to the point of purchase.

Aldridge said stores are not being given any names of the farms of origin until the completion of a Food And Drug Administration investigation.

New Frontiers probably pulled about 100 pounds of spinach from the store at no financial loss to the store. The distributor takes care of removing the product.

Such product removal is not uncommon, Aldridge said.

He added that his produce manager believes fresh spinach will start showing up in stores in Flagstaff in about a week, after the contamination has been contained.

"As of right now, there's just been a total hold on all spinach," Aldridge said. Produce employees in other stores in the city also estimated about a week's time before fresh spinach is once again available. All stores continue to have canned and frozen spinach.

NO LOCAL CONFIRMED CASES

Michael Callahan, epidemiologist at the Coconino County Health Department, said Arizona does not have any confirmed cases of the outbreak.

According to the FDA Web site, 19 states have confirmed cases.

And when the source is eventually tracked down, NAU might be getting some of the credit.

NAU researcher Paul Keim told the Flagstaff City Council Monday that technology in his pathogen lab has been enlisted by the federal Centers for Disease Control to help trace the contamination back to its source.

Six possible cases in Arizona have been identified, including one in Coconino County, Callahan said. But it is unknown if the cases are due to the E. coli bacteria, and it is also unknown if the cases are related to the current outbreak involving contaminated spinach, Callahan said.

He added several possibilities exist for the source of the outbreak. For instance, the bacteria could have been in the fertilizer that was used, and adhered to the spinach leaves. Or, infected people could have contaminated the spinach.

"But at this point, we don't know which scenario is responsible right now," Callahan said.

E. coli causes stomach and intestinal illness, Callahan said. Infected people experience severe diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain. In some people who get infected, the illness can also lead to serious kidney disease as well.

If resident have any bagged spinach, toss it, Callahan said.

And if any residents have become sick and have eaten bagged spinach in recent days, immediately see a medical provider, Callahan said. If possible, preserve a sample of the spinach for testing, but get to a doctor. The vast majority of E. coli cases end in full recovery.

For more information, contact the health department at 522-7842.

Larry Hendricks can be reached at lhendricks@azdailysun.com or 556-2262.