Hawai'i grocers pulled bagged Mainland spinach from their shelves and restaurants took it off their menus yesterday after a 20-state outbreak of E. coli sickened nearly 100 people and killed one.

The outbreak was traced yesterday to California-based Natural Selection Foods, which agreed to recall its spinach products sold as Rave Spinach, Dole, Earthbound Farm, Trader Joe's, Ready Pac and Green Harvest, among other brand names, officials said.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said the company was identified after interviews with patients, and an investigation is trying to determine whether contamination is more widespread.

The Centers for Disease Control said yesterday E. coli-tainted spinach had sickened at least 94 people nationwide. Of those, 29 had been hospitalized, 14 of them with kidney failure.

There have been no cases of illness in the Islands.

But state health officials advised residents to throw away spinach from their refrigerators and warned that washing or cooking the leafy green doesn't eliminate the threat of getting sick.

"As a precautionary measure, don't consume it at all," said Janice Okubo, state Health Department spokeswoman.

Supermarkets statewide followed their Mainland counterparts by taking spinach and bagged salads containing spinach off their shelves after Thursday's nationwide warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Frozen spinach and Hawai'i-grown varieties remain safe to eat.

State health officials also advised Hawai'i restaurants yesterday not to serve the vegetable, and eateries took it off their menus.

Brandon Kotter, manager at California Pizza Kitchen in Ala Moana Center, said customers can still ask for spinach dishes — just without the spinach. "We can offer without," he said, with a laugh. "It just doesn't taste the same."

At Down to Earth market on South King Street, bagged spinach was absent from the shelves and from the salad bar. Customers didn't seem to mind, though.

"They didn't say anything," said April Cockrell, community outreach director for the market. "We still have bunched spinach."

Last year, about 1.6 million pounds of Mainland spinach were shipped to the Islands, according to federal statistics.

Hawai'i produce suppliers said they were not sending spinach on to stores, but keeping it in their warehouses.

Spinach on its way to the state will be quarantined once the ships arrive, if the spinach scare is still in effect, officials said.

Matt Otani, operations manager at D. Otani Produce, said he stands to lose between $2,000 and $3,000 if the quarantined spinach, which he sends in bulk to restaurants and hotels, has to be thrown away.

Eric Enomoto, president of HPC Food Ltd., also a supplier, said the decision not to send out spinach is a precaution.

"All spinach products are not going to be served until we get clearance," he said. "To our knowledge, none of the products we carry have been identified with the outbreak."

The particularly virulent strain of E. coli associated with the spinach outbreak causes bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The illness lasts five to 10 days, the CDC said.

In some people, the bacteria can cause kidney failure.

The strain was first recognized in 1982, during an outbreak traced to contaminated hamburgers. Outbreaks also have been linked to consumption of sprouts, lettuce, salami and milk.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.