In another scare for sprout eaters, the FDA has issued a warning, alerting consumers not to eat to eat alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts from plastic bags labeled "Evergreen Produce" or "Evergreen Produce Inc."
Although the Idaho-based company behind the product has not issued a recall, the FDA says that the produce is possibly linked to 20 reported cases — including one hospitalization — of Salmonella Enteritidis in Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Washington state.
The warning comes on the heels of the recent E. coli outbreak in Europe, which sickened thousands of people and killed 48. That outbreak was ultimately blamed on German sprouts. Although the FDA is quick to point out that this most recent outbreak comes from a different pathogen than the deadly one that plagued Europe, in a release, the government agency indicates that this strain of salmonella does not typically appear at this rate. And, as the Eatocracy blog notes, this is the fourth outbreak of s food-borne illness linked to sprouts this year.
The Seattle Times reports that sprouts are at greater risk of contamination than other vegetables because they require warm, humid conditions to grow. Since 1996, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of food poisoning associated with sprouts, most caused by salmonella and E.coli. To make sprouts safer to eat, the FDA recommends cooking them thoroughly and suggests that children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems should avoid eating any kind of raw sprouts.
The suspected sprouts in this recent outbreak, however, should be immediately discarded. If you have alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts labeled "Evergreen Produce" or "Evergreen Produce Inc," the FDA recommends that you throw them away in a sealed container so animals cannot eat them.