Stop with the sprouts already

Posted on February 24, 2012 in Our Blog,Public Safety

I am a big fan of sprouts, but after all the various food borne illness outbreaks associated with sprouts, I am no longer going to consume them. Why take the chance? Sandwich chain Jimmy John’s keeps taking those chances, though they seem to have the best of intentions. They switched from problem-plagued alfalfa sprouts to clover sprouts last year or so, but then the clover sprouts were linked to an E. coli outbreak in Oregon and Washington.

The most recent outbreak affected sprout eaters in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and WIsconsin. A dozen people had gotten sick from the clover sprouts as of early February. This marks the fifth outbreak involving Jimmy John’s since 2008.

Jimmy John’s franchises in Oregon made the decision to take sprouts of the menu as a safety precaution. The clover sprouts in the most recent outbreak did not come from the distributor that supplies sprouts to the Oregon and Washington shops.

The first lawsuit connected to the most recent outbreak was filed on February 21, 2012, and more are expected to follow.

For more information on this story, see this article.