Tag Archives: Sprouts

Jimmy John’s salmonella-in-sprouts sickens 112 not counting that other outbreak

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control updated the numbers on the Illinois-based salmonella-in-sprouts outbreak.

From November 1, 2010, through January 4, 2011, 112 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-, whose illnesses began since November 1, have been reported from 18 states and the District of Columbia. Results of the investigation indicate a link to eating Tiny Greens Alfalfa Sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurant outlets.

Consumers should not eat recalled Tiny Greens Alfalfa Sprouts or Spicy Sprouts, and restaurant and food service operators should not serve them.

Advice to Consumers, Retailers and Others

• Consumers, retailers and others who have Tiny Greens Alfalfa Sprouts or Spicy Sprouts should dispose of them in a closed plastic bag placed in a sealed trash can. This will prevent people or animals from eating them.

• Persons who think they might have become ill from eating potentially contaminated products should consult their health care providers.

• Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts).

• Cook sprouts thoroughly to reduce the risk of illness. Cooking thoroughly kills the harmful bacteria.

• Request that raw sprouts not be added to your food. If you purchase a sandwich or salad at a restaurant or delicatessen, check to make sure that raw sprouts have not been added.
 

Seek and ye shall find salmonella in sprouts

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I don’t know why Jimmy John’s continues to serve raw sprouts on its sandwiches, continues to make people sick, and continues to get sued.

The Oregon Department of Human Services reported yesterday that clover sprouts produced by Sprouters Northwest, Inc. of Kent, Wash. have been fingered as the source of a separate salmonella outbreak that has sickened three in Oregon and four in Washington. Reported illnesses began between Dec. 4 and Dec. 17. No hospitalizations or deaths have been reported.

The Oregonian reports the Northwest sprout outbreak dates to Dec. 4 when a woman in Bend was sickened by salmonella. In a routine food survey, she told Deschutes County health authorities she had eaten sprouts from Jimmy John’s.

In the past two years, the sandwich chain has been linked to four sprout outbreaks, including one at the end of 2010. Nearly 100 people were sickened by alfalfa sprouts sold by Jimmy John’s in the Midwest.

But the Jimmy John’s store in Bend only uses clover sprouts from Sprouters Northwest, and that company was not implicated in the Midwest outbreak.

Initially, the woman appeared to be a solitary case. Then on Dec. 17, a 3-year-old boy in Bend got sick after munching on a sandwich from Jimmy John’s.

That prompted William E. Keene, a senior epidemiologist at Oregon Public Health Division and his colleagues to whirl into action. They contacted the FDA and Washington state authorities, which in turn found four more cases linked to Sprouters Northwest clover sprouts.

Then on Monday, Keene learned that a woman in Multnomah County had been sickened, hours after the recall was announced.

Keene was quoted as saying, “This is at least the 13th sprout-caused outbreak that has sickened Oregonians since 1995, when we first started warning consumers about the risks of eating sprouts. Anyone concerned about foodborne disease should consider this before eating sprouts.”

This is the fourth time since 1997 that Sprouters Northwest sprouts have been cited as a source of salmonella contamination, Keene said.

Sprouters Northwest owner Bill Jones said Monday the brand is widely sold in major retail chains, including Albertsons and Safeway.

So I’m sure Albertson’s and Safeway will be forthcoming with the food safety audit reports of Sprouters Northwest as a supplier, to convince consumers that food safety is job one.

Said Keene, "This is a food to avoid. If you’re concerned about getting sick, I wouldn’t eat sprouts."

The original table of North American raw sprout-related outbreaks is available at:
http://bites.ksu.edu/sprout-associated-outbreaks-north-america-1990-2009

Salmonella and sprouts again – but just a few sickies

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Clover and clover mix products from Sprouters Northwest Inc. of Kent, Wash., have been recalled because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. The company reports that a few cases of salmonella might be linked to sprouts.

Is that like saying monkeys might fly out of my butt? Sprouters Northwest does offer this mission statement on its website:

“To provide our customers and the public with the freshest, healthiest, and best tasting sprouts available. We pride ourselves in the quality of our product while strictly adhering to all local, state, and federal regulations and guidelines.”

And only a few will get salmonella.

This is the problem with setting standards with everything. The growers say, “we meet all stringent standards,” without bothering to go above and beyond. Ford may have once said the Pinto met all federal standards.

The recall includes the following products, all with a "best by" date of 1/16/11 and earlier:
—4 oz. (UPC 8 15098 00201 6) and 5 oz. (UPC 0 33383 70235 3) containers of Clover sprouts.
—1-lb. bags of Clover (UPC 0 79566 12351 5), and 2-lb. trays of Clover (UPC 0 79566 12362 1).
—Clover Onion sprouts in 4 oz. (UPC 0 79566 12361 4) and 5 oz. (UPC 0 79566 12361 4) containers.
—Deli sprouts in 4 oz. (UPC 8 79566 12305 4) and 5 oz. (UPC 0 33383 70267 4) containers.
—Spicy sprouts in 4 oz. (UPC 8 15098 00202 3) containers.
—Brocco sandwich sprouts in 4 oz. (UPC 8 15098 00028 9) containers.
For more information: Call the company at 253-872-0577.
 

Salmonella in sprouts now sickens 94

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports today that:

* from November 1 through December 27, approximately 94 illnesses linked to infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- were reported from 16 states and the District of Columbia;

* Ppreliminary results of the investigation indicate a link to eating Tiny Greens brand Alfalfa Sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurant outlets; and,

* consumers should not eat Tiny Greens brand Alfalfa Sprouts or Spicy Sprouts, and restaurant and food service operators should not serve them. Consumers, retailers and others who have Tiny Greens Alfalfa Sprouts or Spicy Sprouts should dispose of them in a closed plastic bag placed in a sealed trash can. This will prevent people or animals from eating them.

Silence from Jimmy John’s and Tiny Greens, other than, hey, our tests were negative.

Epidemiology still works.
 

The sprouts stop here: Jimmy John’s salmonella-in-sprouts source IDed

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Tiny Greens’ Organic Farm in Urbana, Illinois (below, left, exactly as shown), talks a lot on its web page about being sustainable, natural, organic and using a crap-load of crap in their sprout production.

“The farm is certified by the Global Organic Alliance, which helps with finding a supply of organic seeds, which can be surprisingly hard to acquire. We grow the seeds in compost that we create ourselves, made of a mixture of year old woodchips and leftover sprouts. We have never had to find an outside source for compost. As long as you keep the sprouts healthy, there is no need for using chemicals. Healthy growing materials also mean an end product that is higher in vitamins, minerals and enzymes.”

Tiny Greens’ Organic Farm does not mention microbiological food safety on its web site, but I suspect they will be in the future.

Why a national sandwich chain like Jimmy John’s would buy an identified high-risk product – raw sprouts – from such an outfit is beyond me; it’s their business to lose now that at least 89 people have been sickened with Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- in 15 states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers not to eat Alfalfa Sprouts and Spicy Sprouts (which contain alfalfa sprouts mixed with radish and clover sprouts) from Tiny Greens Organic Farm of Urbana, Ill. The sprouts were distributed in 4 oz. and 5 lb. containers to various customers, including farmers’ markets, restaurants and groceries, in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and possibly other Midwestern states.

Preliminary results of the investigation of a multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections indicate a link to eating Tiny Greens’ Alfalfa Sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurant outlets.

Approximately half of the illnesses occurred in Illinois, where nearly all of the ill individuals ate sandwiches containing sprouts at various Jimmy John’s outlets. The CDC has posted epidemiological information about this outbreak at http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/i4512i-/.

Jimmy John’s has stopped serving sprouts on its sandwiches at all Illinois locations.

Sprouts are a known source of foodborne illness. Since 1996, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts. Most of these outbreaks were caused by Salmonella and E. coli. The FDA advises children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean sprouts). To reduce the chance of foodborne illness, FDA advises consumers to cook sprouts thoroughly and to request raw sprouts not be added to your food.

The original table of North American raw sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprout-associated-outbreaks-north-america-1990-2009.
 

Sprouts are safe if they are local? Not

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Since no one publicly knows anything about the supplier or source of sprouts linked to a 15-state wide salmonella outbreak with 89 sick, I have no idea why a Jimmy John’s owner in Montana thinks local is safer.

Dan Stevens, the owner of the Missoula and Great Falls Jimmy John’s, decided to share his knowledge of microbiological risk reduction in raw sprouts by e-mailing KRTV and stating,

“…the sprouts for our Great Falls store are grown right here in MT. Right outside of Billings. I would like to stress that fact. Our sprouts are a few states and over 1000 miles removed from Illinois. Sprouts have not been taken off our local menu as we have encountered zero problems since our opening over a year ago.”

Not.
 

Not just Illinois: salmonella in sprouts is making people barf all over; 89 confirmed sick, 1-in-4 hospitalized

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That salmonella-in-sprouts at Jimmy John’s has spread to 15 states.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports from Nov. 1 to Dec. 21, 2010, the same Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- had sickened 89 individuals from 15 states, with 50 of those from Illinois.

Case-patients range in age from 1 to 75 years, with a median age of 28. Sixty-eight percent of patients are female. Among persons with available information, 23% reported being hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Preliminary results of this investigation indicate a link to eating alfalfa sprouts at a national sandwich chain.

To reduce the risk of illness:

• Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts).
• Cook sprouts thoroughly to reduce the risk of illness. Cooking kills the harmful bacteria.
• Request that raw sprouts not be added to your food. If you purchase a sandwich or salad at a restaurant or delicatessen, check to make sure that raw sprouts have not been added.

At one local eatery, we’re known as the no-sprouts customers.

That national sandwich chain would be Jimmy John’s. Although the company pulled sprouts two days ago from Illinois restaurants, they need to pull all raw sprouts nationally, figure out where the sprouts came from to limit exposure to others, and then seriously evaluate whether they should even be offering raw sprouts.

And when Jimmy John’s owner Jimmy John Liautaud wrote franchisees in a letter Tuesday saying that about 88 people were sickened in 15 states and that of 40 interviewed, 28 ate at Jimmy John’s and 25 had sprouts, he obviously knew what CDC is now reporting today. So why would you limit the yanking of sprouts to just Illinois? Why did it take CDC at least an additional two days to report what Illinois folks have been reporting for days?

This is going to be expensive.

A table of raw sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprout-associated-outbreaks-north-america-1990-2009.

No raw milk or sprouts for Santa

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There are now 50 people confirmed sick from salmonella in sprouts served with Jimmy John’s sandwiches in parts of Illinois, the raw milk cheesemaker in Washington state has shuttered her doors after making at least 8 sick with E. coli O157:H7, and a judge in Minnesota has ruled that Minnesota raw milk pusher Michael Hartmann was the source of an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, and that that embargoed food items on the farm must be destroyed.

That’s a long-winded way to say, no sprouts or raw milk for Santa this year, like we did in this animation going back to 2005.
  

Jimmy John’s pulls salmonella sprouts from sandwiches; 88 sick in Illinois

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Hours after announcing that suspect sprouts will stay on the Jimmy John’s sandwich menu because “sprouts rock,” the owner told franchises in Illinois to pull alfalfa sprouts from menus after a salmonella outbreak sickened dozens.

Jimmy John’s owner Jimmy John Liautaud wrote franchisees a letter Tuesday saying that about 88 people were sickened in 15 states and that of 40 interviewed, 28 ate at Jimmy John’s and 25 had sprouts. Liautaud said the chain’s restaurants and main sprout supplier have tested negative.

The Illinois Department of Public Health pegged the number of people confirmed sick from Salmonella I 4,5,12,i- at 43 back on Dec. 17, 2010.

Sprouts again: 46 sick with salmonella

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The Chicago Tribune reports Illinois health officials are investigating a salmonella outbreak that’s sickened nearly 50 people in nine counties.



The Illinois Department of Public Health says many of the people who have become ill have reported eating alfalfa sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurants.



IDPH officials say alfalfa sprout producers and suppliers are being investigated, and produce testing is ongoing. 



The health department has received reports of 46 people falling ill since Nov. 1.