I spent a few hours yesterday cooking 100 burgers and prepping food for kids at Sorenne’s school. Afterwards, one of the other volunteers got me talking about food safety and asked me about raw sprouts. I said, never at this school as long as I’m here.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as of November 21, 2014, a total of 63 people infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Enteritidis have been reported from 10 states.

• 26 percent of ill persons have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

• Collaborative investigation efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicate that bean sprouts produced by Wonton Foods, Inc. are the likely source of this outbreak.

• In interviews, 29 (78%) of 37 ill persons reported eating bean sprouts or menu items containing bean sprouts in the week before becoming ill.

• The information available to date indicates that bean sprouts produced by Wonton Foods, Inc. may be contaminated with Salmonella and are not safe to eat. As of November 21, 2014, the firm has verbally agreed to voluntarily stop the production and sale of their bean sprouts.

• CDC recommends that restaurants and other retailers do not sell or serve bean sprouts produced by Wonton Foods, Inc. at this time.

• The firm is cooperating with public health and agriculture officials and has reported that their last shipment of bean sprouts was on November 18, 2014. 

• This ongoing investigation is rapidly evolving, and CDC will update the public when more information becomes available.

We document at least 55 sprout-associated outbreaks occurring worldwide affecting a total of 15,233 people since 1988. A comprehensive table of sprout-related outbreaks can be found at https://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Sprout-associated-outbreaks-8-1-14.xlsx