If the federal officials are to be believed, the E. coli outbreak that was traced to fresh sprouts seems to be over. Earlier, they said that 11 people from two states had fallen ill following consumption of E. coli infected alfalfa sprouts made by Jack & The Green Sprouts.
Altogether eight people in Minnesota and another three in Wisconsin were found to be affected by a strain of E. coli O157, and their symptoms started showing from Jan. 17 through Feb. 17 this year. Two of these victims had to be hospitalized. A joint investigation by the state, local, and federal public health along with regulatory officials had hinted that alfalfa sprouts produced by Jack & The Green Sprouts of River Falls, Wisconsin, where the potential reasons for this E. coli outbreak, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
When people affected by E. coli were asked about the foods they ate as well as other exposures during the week prior to falling ill, all the nine all nine said that they ate alfalfa sprouts in the week before they fell ill.
In its final update submitted by CDC on the E. coli, outbreak on Friday last confirmed that the latest outbreak wasn't associated with the multi-state occurrence of Salmonella Muenchen infections related to alfalfa sprouts that were produced by Sweetwater Farms of Inman, KS. It further stated that currently it appears that the E. coli outbreak is over. Nevertheless, as it was detected that fresh sprouts were the reason behind the food-borne illness, CDC has advised consumers, retailers and restaurants to follow food safety practices with a view to preventing becoming ill due to fresh sprouts consumption.
It is worth mentioning here that soon after the outbreak was detected Jack & the Green Sprouts Inc. recalled all its alfalfa as well as alfalfa onion sprouts on Feb. 25. The recall came just a day after the Minnesota Department of Health issued a warning asking consumers to avoid alfalfa sprouts produced by the River Falls-based company, Food Safety News reported.
