Popeye urges switch to cans

Cartoon legend Popeye the Sailor Man has stepped back into the limelight to urge Americans to avoid eating fresh spinach during the current E. coli crisis.

In a statement released early Tuesday, the beloved former sailor and character actor said: "I donsk usually takes a stands on currensk evenskses, buts I knews I couldnst stays quiet while Ameriscans are sufferink. But a boycott isnsk the answer."

Popeye, who began his film career in 1933, has made few appearances in public since his retirement in 1988. A former spokesman for the spinach industry, Popeye has long incorporated the leafy green into his films and his personal life, believing it gave him strength. He switched to canned spinach in 1927 after a similar health scare involving fresh spinach. His faith in the powers of spinach bordered on superstition, and he often claimed that without it he would grow weak as a baby, a recurring theme in his work. Often in his films, Popeye would be saved from a threat only by a well-placed can of spinach.

His statement went on to say that no one should feel they must go without spinach, and stressed that the canning process eliminates the risk of E. Coli. Although no longer an official spokesman for spinach, he stressed that he still eats it daily.

"Itsk what made me whadd I yam," he said, adding: "Strong to the finish! Ack-ak-ak-ak-ak!"