Tainted sprouts again linked to Jimmy John's
UPDATED 9:35 p.m. Wednesday
WASHINGTON (AP) — Raw sprouts from the sandwich chain Jimmy John's have been linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness — again.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 12 cases of E. coli poisoning in five states are linked to raw clover sprouts eaten at Jimmy John's restaurants. The outbreak comes a year after raw alfalfa sprouts from one of the chain's suppliers were linked to 140 salmonella illnesses. Sproutsfrom the chain's suppliers were also linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in several Midwestern states and were suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Boulder, Colo. in 2008.
Champaign-based Jimmy John's declined to comment on the outbreak. After the salmonella outbreak a year ago, the company said it would switch from using alfalfa sprouts to using clover sprouts because they are easier to clean. But federal regulators warn against eating all raw sprouts, which are one of the most frequent perpetrators of foodborne illness.
Though they are often touted as a health food, sprouts need warm and humid conditions to grow, encouraging bacterial growth. Many restaurants have stopped serving them after multiple outbreaks, and the government recommends that the very young, elderly, pregnant and others with compromised immune systems stay away from raw sprouts completely. Fully cooked sprouts are safe to eat.
According to the CDC, there have been at least 30 outbreaks associated with raw or lightly cooked sprouts in the United States in the last 15 years and even more around the world, including a 1996 outbreak in Japan that sickened thousands of people with E. coli. Fenugreek sprout seeds from Egypt are thought to have caused a major outbreak of E. coli poisoning in Europe last year that killed more than 50 people.
Illnesses in the current outbreak were reported in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Wisconsin. The illnesses occurred between Dec. 25 and Jan. 15 and two of the victims were hospitalized.
In most sprout outbreaks the restaurant is not to blame for the contamination itself. Contamination usually happens when the seeds are grown or harvested and is often impossible to wash off.
Food safety lawyer Bill Marler has represented victims in the three previous sprout outbreaks potentially linked to Jimmy John's. He has pushed the FDA to require warning labels on sprouts and praises restaurants that have taken them off the menu.
"You have to wonder what this company is thinking," he said.
MoreI had to ask one of the kids working there once to remake my sandwhich and change his gloves after I observed him to continually brush his hair out of his eyes then touch my food. I love JJ's but was grossed out by that. I know things go on behind the scenes everywhere but I dont see it (ignorance is bliss in some cases). The sprouts are what I love about their sandwhiches!
Time for them to find a new supplier of sprouts. No more patronizing these granola-crunching Birkenstock-wearing pseudo-farmers like Tiny Greens in rural Urbana who were 100% to blame for the last outbreak.
Oh, the irony of how the current administration goes after the Amish for selling non-pasteurized milk (with no complaints EXCEPT by those who want the government to keep their noses out of their business) and downplay the role that these organic farmers play in the spread of diseases.
"Last month, the FDA's district director sent a warning letter to Tiny Greens outlining its findings and called on owner Bill Bagby Jr. to "investigate and determine the causes of the violations and take prompt actions to correct them to bring your products into compliance" with food safety laws."
"A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area.
The product in question: unpasteurized milk."
I'm pretty sure they've switched suppliers since. No need to insult Tiny Greens. Every time I've ate at Jimmy Johns, it's turned my stomach- and I never eat anything with sprouts on it. I have to wonder what kind of chemicals they're using for their overall "sanitation" practices.
Congratulations, ronaldo, you successfully identified, condemned, defamed, and insulted the wrong supplier. Tiny Greens had nothing to do with this outbreak. Nor, I suspect, did anyone eating granola or wearing Birkenstocks cause this problem. Nope, it was some other outfit which is to blame. But I fully expect you to continue with your insults against granola-eaters and sandal-wearers, and anyone else you disagree with. No need to let facts or truth stop you.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/health/health-care/2012-02-17/tiny-gree...
By the way, how come Jimmy John is still in Illinois? I thought he promised to move to Florida to evade taxation. No, instead he's going to be a political convention delegate for the upcoming elections, in the state he hates for the people he sickens.
It's not jimmy john's fault.The problem is the Democrats,Unions,Governor Quinn,high taxes,liberals,,working families,PETA,conservationists,public school teachers...and OBAMA.Please stop picking on Jimmy John and the American Dream.We don't need some government geek with a pension telling us what to eat.Real American Tea Party Patriots will eat all of the sprouts that they want and no big government inspector is going to stop them.
Shame on the News-Gazette for printing this anti business climate nonsense!
It's the big goverment lieberals that won't let me buy the raw milk that I want to. It's the Nobama "let's get moving" propaganda campaign brainwashing school kids into thinking good classic AMERICAN food like hot dogs and hamburgers with AMERICAN MUSTARD are bad for them. Why don't they get their dirty bueorcrat hands off my food??
In fact, this more or less proves that bagby was NOT responsoble for the outbreak, since JJ's had another sprout supplier.
and why didn't any of the hundreds of customers that buy Bagby's sprouts from the food co-op, and the many other stores in CU that sell his sprouts get sick also?
the sprouts are just a scapegoat for poor sanitation and food handling practices that are all too common in the restraunt industry.
the common denominator here is JJ's not the sprouts, Bagby is an, honest, hard working, health concious guy, who is only interested in selling healthy food, and has cooperated fully with the FDA and all the other govt. agencies invested in this fiasco. I have talked to him on many occasions and have been impressed with all he has done to remedy the situation.
and I thought jimmy johns had said that they were discontinuing spouts altogether from their menu, what gives? they could have avoided the whole thing if they had just done that, or maybe not?
NOW,lets see who all gets their post deleted.When i post stuff like Saltfork OR Ronaldooohh they always want it to be deleted.I know i'm gone....just wait and see if SHE lets her buddies keep making posts toward other posters w/o getting deleted.I will be ssoooooo glad when this place goes broke.One guy a few days ago said it right...."only the fruity,sandal,hippie,granola eating wierdos get to make post against other people and get by with it".I didn't realize it was this kind of crowd when i joined,my mistake. Good luck.
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