Red clover sprouts produced by Chicago Indoor Garden have been linked to an E. coli O103 outbreak that also includes clover sprouts served on sandwiches at Jimmy John’s restaurants. The outbreak, which includes 14 illnesses in five states, is different from another recent Jimmy John’s clover sprouts E. coli outbreak that sickened 22 people in Iowa in December 2019.
The current multistate outbreak is the ninth in 11 years linked to sprouts or other contaminated produce served at Jimmy John’s restaurants. The most current totals for illnesses reported from each of the five states are as follows: Illinois (6), Iowa (3), Missouri (1), Texas (1) and Utah (3). Jimmy John’s stopped serving sprouts after the outbreak was announced, but the FDA continued its investigation for the source of the contaminated sprouts.
Chicago Indoor Garden, based in Chicago, produces freshly sprouted beans, greens and grasses, according to its website. Health officials collected samples of the red clover sprouts and tested them for pathogens. After initial results were positive for E. coli O103, they used Whole Genome Sequencing to identify the strain’s “genetic fingerprint” and found that it is a match to the outbreak strain.
On March 13, 2020, the FDA issued a recommendation that consumers should not eat five products produced by Chicago Indoor Graden products that red clover sprouts: red clover (with and without non-GMO labels), sprout salad, mixed greens, and spring salad. These products have “best by” dates ranging from December 1, 2019, to March 12, 2020.
If you have been sickened by contaminated sprouts served at Jimmy John’s or in Chicago Indoor Garden products and would like a free consultation with our team of food poisoning lawyers, please fill call 1-888-377-8900, text 612-261-0856 or complete the form below. Our team has successfully represented clients in every major E. coli outbreak in the last 20 years. We’d like to help you, too.