Poisonous weeds disrupted Australian spinach growers

In December last year, producer Dino Borrato, who works out of Bacchus Marsh in central Victoria, Australia, lost nearly $1 million overnight when more than 100 Australians were allegedly poisoned after eating contaminated spinach. The infestation was traced to the noxious weed thorn apple, a poisonous invasive species found in a brand of spinach from a New South Wales farm. Borrato said consumer demand for packaged and unpackaged spinach plummeted overnight. But it's not over yet: eight months later, he's still repairing the damage. In fact, the contamination has devastated the country's spinach sector. Major supermarkets recalled dozens of spinach products from across the country after announcing that the product was not safe to consume. Borrato said that, despite the one-time incident, consumers avoided packaged spinach in supermarkets and did not look ...