Grimmway Enterprises, Inc., a carrot producer in Bakersfield, California is suing a neighboring sheep farmer afer the sheep entered Grimmway’s property. The sheep grazed on Grimmway crops, but more importantly, they did what sheep do – they defecated. Out of resulting concern for possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination, Gimmway destroyed an alleged 75 acres of crops.
In a related story on, Michele Jay-Russell of UC Davis’ Western Institute for Food Safety and Security said the destruction of the crops made sense. “It’s a legitimate c oncern,” she said. Sheep, and other ruminants, such as cattle and goats, are known to harbor E. coli O157:H7. An investigation of the massive 2006 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Dole spinach suggested that wildlife in the crop fields played in role in the outbreak.