For the time being--like much of the country--Duke will be spinach-less.
As a result of nearly 100 E. coli-related hospitalizations in 26 states, the Food and Drug Administration has recommended that no one consume raw or fresh spinach.
As of Tuesday evening, no cases have been reported in North Carolina.
The FDA warning came last week after bags of spinach produced by two California growers were pinpointed as the source of the E. coli outbreak.
Duke administrators said they reacted immediately to the FDA recommendation and all campus dining locations have removed fresh spinach from their stocks.
Jim Wulforst, director of dining services, said he first learned about the warning last week.
"The night we knew about the [E. coli] outbreak, we e-mailed and called every manager and store," Wulforst said. "By the next morning we had gotten rid of all the spinach."
The entire process of ridding campus eateries of spinach took about 12 hours, even though spinach is used at nearly every campus eating location, Wulforst said.
"We wanted to get it taken care of fast and efficiently," he said. "We are waiting for word from the FDA before we start allowing it to be used again."
The administration has not adopted any special plans to deal with the potential health problems besides the standard guidelines.
"We are maintaining our usual level of alertness," said Jean Hanson, assistant director of the Student Health Center. "We see many [gastrointestinal] problems anyway and we are on the alert for symptoms."
E. coli can cause severe health problems such as meningitis and types of pneumonia. There has been one reported fatality caused by this outbreak.
Both Hanson and Wulforst said they do not know of any E. coli-related illnesses on the Duke campus.
Many campus locations use spinach in multiple items and have been forced to offer a more limited menu.
The Marketplace and the Great Hall both stopped offering spinach in their salad bars, and Alpine Bagels in the West Union Building has also gotten rid of fresh and raw spinach products. Thousands of students go through both locations every day.
Willie Stewart, Alpine shift manager, said the eatery quickly adopted the no-spinach policy.
"We got everything taken care of right away," she said. "As soon as we heard what was going on with it, we threw out all [the spinach] we had."
Stewart said one spinach product-the spinach bagel-is still available at the store, but the spinach used in the bagel is not made from raw spinach, so it is safe to eat.
Some of Alpine's salads-among the venue's most popular items-have been temporarily discontinued because they contain spinach.
The Loop and the Great Hall have also changed some pasta and salad dishes that use spinach or mixed greens. Stewart said students, for the most part, understand the problems caused by the E. coli outbreak, despite the inconvenience.
"Most students are very nice about it," she said. "They just order something else instead for now."
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