Federal public health officials on Friday cautioned against eating or serving alfalfa sprouts from a Minnesota-based company after dozens were sickened across the United States.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating an outbreak of E. coli and salmonella tied to alfalfa sprouts. Investigators linked the cases to Everything Sprouts, and the company issued a voluntary recall of some products. The contaminated products were sold under the Everything Sprouts and Calco brands.
The cases involve multiple strains of E. coli and a single kind of salmonella, according to the F.D.A. and the C.D.C. At least 55 people in 15 states have been sickened, and four people were hospitalized, the F.D.A. said.
Between May 31 and Aug. 8, 46 people were infected with E. coli, seven people were infected with salmonella and two people were infected with both salmonella and E. coli, the C.D.C. said. The majority of cases were reported in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The outbreak comes as tens of thousands of people have been sickened with cyclospora this summer after eating contaminated iceberg lettuce. A salmonella outbreak tied to jalapeños also sickened at least 345 people in 47 states.
The symptoms of E. coli and salmonella include diarrhea and fever. People with weak immune systems, older adults and children younger than 5 are more likely to have severe infections of salmonella, F.D.A. officials said.
Everything Sprouts said in a statement that retailers and third-party distributors should dispose of the company’s alfalfa products.
“We continue to work closely with public health officials to investigate the source of this potential issue and will provide updates as they become available,” the statement said.
The C.D.C. said to throw away the sprouts and clean any surfaces they might have touched.
The cause of the outbreak is being investigated, but generally, alfalfa sprouts grow under conditions that can provide a fertile breeding ground for pathogens, experts said.
That multiple strains of E. coli were involved is “unusual, but it’s not unprecedented,” Don Schaffner, chairman of the department of food science at Rutgers University, said.
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