Fox 28 out of South Bend, Indiana reported today that spinach processor ReadyPac, from nearby Michiana, will likely lay off over 200 workers who bag produce like spinach, lettuce and mixed salads.
More proof that this outbreak didn’t just impact spinach growers from the Salinas Valley comes from a report in the Orlando Sentinel, which ran an article on AP Military Group, a company that filed for bankruptcy after its sales to the US military dropped off during the outbreak and its aftermath:
AP Military Group, a Palm Bay broker that helps supply salads for military families across the globe, said in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in Orlando that its sales were dramatically impacted by last month’s recall of spinach after an outbreak of E. coli was linked to the vegetable.
Elizabeth Green, an attorney representing AP Military, said the broker sustained up to a 50 percent decline in revenue after the Food and Drug Administration started advising consumers not to consume bagged spinach in mid-September.