The Food and Drug Administration announced Monday an outbreak of E. coli in spinach is affecting 21 states, and 114 cases, including one death, have been reported to the Center for Disease Control. The FDA stated among the states affected, Louisiana is not on the list, and there are no reports of tainted spinach in the Thibodaux area.

The FDA issued a report Sept. 14 warning consumers about the outbreak and advised against eating fresh spinach, including bagged spinach and both organic and inorganic spinach. Cooked spinach can be consumed if it is cooked at 160 degrees for 15 seconds, according to the FDA.

The outbreaks have been centralized at two California locations, beginning with an outbreak at San Juan Batista, a California-based Natural Selections Foods LLC.

Local stores such as Wal-Mart have responded to the recalls.

Patsy Temtleton, Thibodaux Wal-Mart associate in produce, said all the fresh spinach was pulled off the shelves and thrown away.

Some students have been concerned about the outbreak while others have not.

Bliss Kiff, English junior from Galliano, eats many organic fruits and vegetables, including spinach.

“I haven’t bought bags of salad or anything with fresh spinach, and at restaurants I order vegetables, but I avoid salads,” Kiff said.

In contrast, some students are not concerned about the outbreak.

“I don’t buy food from farmers’ markets, but I trust the suppliers at the grocery stores. If something local happens then I will stop buying it,” Damian Maddox, freshman from Slidell, said.

The CDC has not been able to pin-point how the spinach was contaminated, however.

According to the CDC, E. coli is a strain of bacterium that lives in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. E. coli is spread when animals are slaughtered. If the animals are contaminated, all the ground meat will also be contaminated.

The CDC stated some symptoms of the E. coli infection are abdominal cramping, bloody diarrhea and fever.