The last time the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a press release, “There are no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products,” 22 Canadians died and 53 were sickened with listeria. A cursory glance at CFIA press releases shows that when there are no sick people, CFIA will say, “there are no reported illnesses.”

So when CFIA announced a few minutes ago that it and Sunsprout Natural Foods are warning the public not to consume certain varieties of Sprouts Alive and Sun Sprout brands that contain onion sprouts because they may be contaminated with Salmonella and that, “There are no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products,” expect the sick to surface.

As best as I can tell, “no confirmed illnesses” means there is epidemiological evidence linking these sprouts and sick people, but CFIA doesn’t really believe in epidemiology, so they wait for the stagecoaches to go to the lab in Winnipeg and back with test results, before worrying people about some silly Salmonella. Or at least that’s what came out of the various listeria outbreak reports.

The Sunsprout Natural Foods involved in this recall is based in my hometown of Brantford, Ontario. I wonder if they have any relationship with SunSprout Enterprises Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska, that recalled Salmonella-contaminated sprouts in the U.S. Midwest in March 2009 after the sprouts made about 80 people barf.

The products in the current recall were distributed in Ontario and the Maritimes, and may have been sold in Quebec.

All Best Before codes up to and including August 27, 2009 of the following products are affected:
Brand
Product
Size
UPC
Sprouts Alive
Baby Onion Sprouts
70 g (2.5 oz)
0 69022 00032 0
sun sprout
Alfalfa & Onion Sprouts
135g (4.76 oz)
0 57621 13506 2f