By Marian Burros, published September 20, 2006 in the New York Times

If you crave spinach salad despite government warnings about possible contamination of spinach from California, buying local might do the trick.

The chances of buying uncooked spinach containing the deadly bacterium that has been making headlines for several days are significantly reduced if you know the farmer and how he farms, and if you wash the spinach thoroughly before eating it, a government official acknowledged.

The Food and Drug Administration has advised people not to eat any fresh spinach at all, not even cooked, although sufficient cooking (160 degrees for 15 seconds) kills E. coli O157:H7, the bacterium that has sickened scores of people around the country, including at least 18 who are critically ill, and killed at least one. The agency is concerned that even if the spinach is cooked, bacteria may have been left behind on a countertop or a knife, which could then contaminate another food being served raw.

Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the FDA, said the agency “wants to maintain a simple consumer message’’ and not confuse people by saying which circumstances are appropriate for eating uncooked spinach. But in a telephone conversation he acknowledged that it is less risky to eat locally grown spinach.

“Clearly the risk is significantly reduced if you know the farmer and know his farm,” he said, “particularly if you are on the East Coast,’’ far from the suspected source of the contamination.