ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Public health officials are still trying to get to the bottom of the E. coli outbreak involving bagged organic baby carrots.

It’s linked to multiple brands of organic baby carrots in 18 states, including New York.

The Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are collecting data to find the source.

Those in the organic farming industry say this incident shouldn’t turn anyone off from fresh foods.

“The safest food that you can eat is the least traveled and the least touched," said Samantha Kemnah, who runs the help line for the Northeast Organic Farmers Association of New York. "So, supporting your local farmer's market is probably the best way to go to avoid food recalls.”

Kemnah is an organic dairy farmer herself.

She explains that organic farms have to test their water and use drinking water on their plants to make sure it is not contaminated.

And she says there are regulations about applying manure as soil if it is not composted.

“Raw animal manure has regulations around when it can be applied as a fertilizer," she said. "So, if it's applied to land, that's going to have human consumable food coming off of it, it has to be incorporated into the soil more than 120 days in advance of harvesting that crop. And that gives it time to break down and not have these bacteria on the plants.”

Kemnah adds that E. coli may not necessarily access vegetables at the farm level. The bacteria could be introduced after the products leave the farm, during processing and bagging.

Health officials urge you to check your carrots. If you have any recalled carrots in your home, you are advised to throw them out or return them to the store.