Tag Archives: jimmy johns

Magic man defends sprouts, another chain pulls the wonder food

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Beginning in Dec. 2010, people started getting sick from eating raw sprouts on Jimmy John’s sandwiches, primarily in Indiana. After some 140 confirmed cases, the sprouts were linked to Tiny Greens Organic Farms, a producer based in Urbana, Illinois.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a 6-page inspection report of Tiny Greens in Feb. 2011, and found the company grew sprouts in “soil from the organic material decomposed outside” without using any monitored “kill step” on it.

Other findings included:

• An “amphibian/reptile” was kept in the reception room of the firm, which adjoined the production area.?* The firm couldn’t show that its antimicrobial treatment for seeds, which was not specifically described in the report, was equivalent to the recommended treatment with a bleach solution.

• Employees stored their lunches, including such items as raw bacon, in the same cooler where finished sprouts were stored.?* Organic matter was seen on a table where sprouts were packaged, and a “biofilm-like buildup” was seen on sprouting trays after they were cleaned.?* What looked like mold was seen on walls and ceiling in a mung-bean sprouting room.?*

• Condensation dripped from the ceiling in production areas throughout the inspection period, which lasted close to a month.?* An outside lab that the firm used to test its water and sprouts used a method that was not validated for detecting Salmonella in those items.?

• FDA found a Salmonella isolate matching the outbreak strain, known as I 4,[5],12:i:-, in a sample of runoff water from the company.

In the midst of the German-centered E. coli O104-in-sprouts outbreak in May 2011, Tiny Greens owner Bill Bagby, said the nutritional benefits outweigh the risk.

“Sprouts are kind of a magical thing.”

“That’s why I would advise people to only buy sprouts from someone who has a (foodsafety) program in place” that includes outside auditors, Bagby said. “We did not have (independent auditors) for about one year and that was the time the problems happened. The FDA determined that unsanitary conditions could have been a potential source of cross-contamination and so we have made a lot of changes since then.”

Independent auditors? Like the ones who said everything was cool, everything was OK, at Peanut Corporation of America (7 dead, 700 sick) and DeCoster eggs (2,000 sick)?

Auditors aren’t going to do much for sprout safety. But the optimism of the Magic Man is shared by the International Sprout Growers Association, which launched a campaign earlier this year to “make sprouts part of your healthy eating in 2012” and promoted the idea of sprouts as a “wonder food.”

Then another Jimmy John’s outbreak – E. coli O26 linked to raw sprouts in sandwiches favored by college kids – and the same actors surface on the social stage.

Bagby said this week, “We are not involved in any way, nor are we associated in any way with this current outbreak.”

The CDC website said the clover spouts used at the affected restaurants all came from two sprouting facilities using the same lot of clover seeds provided by International Specialty Supply, also known as ISS, in Cookeville, Tenn.

Bagby said, “I don’t buy from that company because it doesn’t have a sufficient decontamination procedure for the seeds.”

Bagby said Tiny Greens gets all its seeds from the Caudill Seed Co. in Louisville, Ky., because it uses a system to decontaminate the sprouting seeds.

“They use a process involving heat and a vacuum,” Bagby said.

Bagby said he was notified that Jimmy John’s has removed sprouts from its menu following this week’s finding by the CDC.

“It is ironic because sprouts have a high vitamin content, are rich in enzymes and phyto nutrients and strengthen one’s immune system.”

Not so much ironic as a painfully delayed recognition by Jimmy John’s that after 5 outbreaks related to sprouts on their sandwiches since 2008, maybe something should be done. A table of sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.

Jimmy John’s spokeswoman Mary Trader said on Thursday that the company is not releasing a statement at this time.

Others, however, aren’t waiting.

Erbert and Gerbert’s Sandwich Shops, based in Eau Claire, Wis., has taken alfalfa sprouts off its menus at all outlets. The company has 53 locations.

“The decision to pull the sprouts from our menu system-wide is being made to protect the health of our guests,” Eric Wolfe, chief executive officer at E&G Franchise Systems, Inc., said in the release. “We value the well-being of our customers and felt removing all sprouts from our menu and sandwich line was the best way to eliminate the risk.”

WalMart stopped selling sprouts in North America in Oct. 2010.

NPR’s Nancy Shute chatted with Bob Sanderson, president of the International Sprout Growers Association, who talked about a number of possible sanitary treatments while concluding, “I’m hoping that the new rules [that are part of the Food Safety Modernization Act] will say, here’s what you have to do to be acceptable. That would free up the industry to come up with solutions.”

With repeated outbreaks, acceptable is a long way off.

Carnage of the sprouts: Jimmy John’s and lessons from Germany

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Those Jimmy John’s clover sprouts that have sickened at least 12 people in the Midwest with E. coli O26 may have been grown on a farm in Kansas.

I can’t wait to find out who the third-party auditor was.

Missouri’s News-Leader reports the restaurants in Springfield had obtained the sprouts from a farm in Kansas, but neither the restaurants or the farm appeared to be the source of the contamination.

But the restaurant chose to sell raw sprouts.

John Hershberger, the owner of Sweetwater Farms in Inman, Kansas, said federal investigators have not conclusively linked the seeds to the outbreak. He said an investigator from the U.S. Department of Food and Drug Administration was at his farm last week but didn’t find any contamination at the farm.

“They don’t know that for a fact,” Hershberger said of a possible link to the seeds.

Hershberger said he had voluntarily withdrawn clover sprouts from the market.

A paper in Arkansas, home to one of the illnesses, said, “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.”

It’s true sprouts are often contaminated at the seed level but absolute nonsense that whoever serves those raw sprouts on sandwiches isn’t responsible, especially when raw sprouts have been the source of four previous outbreaks since 2008 at the same sandwich chain – Jimmy John’s.

Can food service learn anything from past sprout outbreaks – and there have been a lot, see http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.

Eurosurveillance, reported yesterday that a bunch of experts who gathered in Nov. 2011 concluded the outbreak showed the landscape of foodborne infections is in flux, that multi-national outbreaks are a reality and that they can occur everywhere, irrespective of food safety standards.

Nothing was said about whether people should eat raw sprouts or even if raw sprouts were a high-risk food.

Denny’s downgraded but will stigma affect sales?

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Denny’s is like the Taco Bell of breakfast: no matter how much foodborne illness is sourced to Taco-Restaurant-A-Bell or Denny’s, people continue to scarf down these cheap sources of calories.

Stigma or stupidity, it doesn’t faze the boss.

Add Jimmy John’s sprout sandwiches to the impervious to stigma list.

The Cibola Beacon reports the New Mexico state Environment Department has downgraded Denny’s Restaurant for repeated food safety violations and posted an “unsatisfactory” grade emblem was posted at each of the facility’s entrances.

The Feb. 7 regular visit report listed six violations, two high-risk and four low-risk, which required a follow-up inspection.

A Feb. 15 follow-up inspection found, “hand-wash sinks filthy, inconsistent and minimal hand-washing observed, food-film covering all non-food contact surfaces including equipment handles, microwaves, doors and handles of walk-ins.”

Sprouts sicken 12 with E. coli O26; clover sprouts on Jimmy John’s subs suspected

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Beginning in Nov. 2010, raw sprouts served on Jimmy John’s, sandwiches sickened 140 people, primarily in Indiana, with salmonella.

In January, 2011, Jimmy John’s owner Jimmy John Liautaud said his restaurants would replace alfalfa sprouts, effective immediately, with allegedly easier-to-clean clover sprouts.

This was one week after a separate outbreak of salmonella sickened eight people in Washington and Oregon in Jan. 2011 who had eaten at a Jimmy John’s that used clover sprouts. That’s a week after the salmonella-in-clover sprouts was publicly reported, yet the head of a large food franchise like Jimmy John’s was absolutely clueless about microbial risks associated with sprouts.

A year later, it’s happened again.

Raw clover sprouts served on Jimmy John’s sandwiches have sickened at least 12 people with E. coli O26; at least two people were sickened in my home state of Kansas, where I tell anyone who will listen why they might want to reconsider sprouts on sandwiches at Jimmy John’s, which are often catered in for meetings.

I won’t touch them.

A table of sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported today that preliminary results of the epidemiologic and traceback investigations indicate eating raw clover sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurants is the likely cause of this outbreak.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Iowa (5), Missouri (3), Kansas (2), Arkansas (1), and Wisconsin (1).

Two ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

FDA’s traceback investigation is ongoing. Traceback information on sprouts has identified a common lot of clover seeds used to grow clover sprouts served at Jimmy John’s restaurant locations where ill persons ate.

The type of bacteria responsible for this outbreak are referred to as shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC). STEC bacteria are grouped by serogroups (e.g., O157 or O26). The STEC serogroup found most commonly in U.S. patients is E. coli O157. Other E. coli serogroups in the STEC group, including O26, are sometimes called "non-O157 STECs." Some types of STEC frequently cause severe disease, including bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Others, such as common strains of STEC O26, typically cause milder illness. Currently, there are limited public health surveillance data on the occurrence of non-O157 STECs, including STEC O26; therefore, STEC O26 infections may go undiagnosed or unreported. Because non-O157 STEC infections are more difficult to identify than STEC O157, many clinical laboratories do not test for them. The STEC O26 PFGE pattern in this outbreak has rarely been seen before in PulseNet.
Initial Case Count

Among persons for whom information is available, illness onset dates range from December 25, 2011 to January 15, 2012. Ill persons range in age from 9 years to 49 years old, with a median age of 25 years old. One hundred percent of ill persons are female. Among the 12 ill persons, 2 (17%) were hospitalized. None have developed HUS, and no deaths have been reported.

Epidemiologic and traceback investigations conducted by officials in local, state, and federal public health, agriculture, and regulatory agencies have linked this outbreak to eating raw clover sprouts. Among the 11 ill persons with information available, 10 (91%) reported eating at a Jimmy John’s sandwich restaurant in the 7 days preceding illness. Ill persons reported eating at 9 different locations of Jimmy John’s restaurants in 4 states in the week before becoming ill. One location was identified where more than one ill person reported eating in the week before becoming ill. Among the 10 ill persons who reported eating at a Jimmy John’s restaurant location, 8 (80%) reported eating a sandwich containing sprouts, and 9 (90%) reported eating a sandwich containing lettuce. Currently, no other common grocery stores or restaurants are associated with illnesses.

Preliminary traceback information has identified a common lot of clover seeds used to grow clover sprouts served at Jimmy John’s restaurant locations where ill persons ate. FDA and states conducted a traceback that identified two separate sprouting facilities; both used the same lot of seed to grow clover sprouts served at these Jimmy John’s restaurant locations. Preliminary distribution information indicates that sprouts grown from this seed lot were sold at a number of restaurant and grocery store locations in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin, and were likely distributed beyond these states. On February 10, 2012, the seed supplier initiated notification of sprouting facilities that received this lot of clover seed to stop using it. Investigations are ongoing to identify other locations that may have sold clover sprouts grown from this seed lot.

Based on previous outbreaks associated with sprouts, investigation findings have demonstrated that sprout seeds might become contaminated in several ways. They could be grown with contaminated water or improperly composted manure fertilizer. They could be contaminated with feces from domestic or wild animals, or with runoff from animal production facilities, or by improperly cleaned growing or processing equipment. Seeds also might become contaminated during harvesting, distribution, or storage. Many clover seeds are produced for agricultural use, so they might not be processed, handled, and stored as human food would. Conditions suitable for sprouting the seed also permit bacteria that might be present on seeds to grow and multiply rapidly.

In 1999, FDA released guidance to help seed producers and sprout growers enhance the safety of their products. Specific measures recommended in the guidelines include a seed disinfection step and microbiologic tests of water that has been used to grow each lot of sprouts. The microbiologic tests currently recommended under this guidance would not identify the presence of STEC O26.

Eat here and barf: seven Jimmy John’s union workers fired

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Jimmy John’s launched a new ad campaign earlier this month stressing speed instead of safety after making 130 or so people barf with salmonella-in-sprouts-on-sandwiches in two separate outbreaks.

Over the past two days, seven core members of the Jimmy John’s Workers Union were fired at five Minneapolis-area locations for distributing hundreds of posters claiming that eating at Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches puts customers at risk of food-borne illness.

The poster shows identical sandwiches, one labeled as being made by a healthy worker and one by a sick worker. The poster asks if customers can spot a difference between the two. “We hope your immune system is ready because you’re about to take the sandwich test,” it reads.

I would have gone with the sprout and ingredient angle, what with all the sick people, but having sick sandwich artists work is an excellent way to spread norovirus, salmonella and lots of other nasties.

According to The Minnesota Daily, the posters were in response to the union’s unmet demands for paid sick days, which “force” employees to come in sick, putting customers at risk, they said.’’

Union supporter David Boehnke, said, “We were fired for saying we want better working conditions for ourselves. We were standing up for ourselves.”

Boehnke said their activities were legally protected because the employees were organizing for higher wages. However Franchise Owner Mike Mulligan of MikLin Enterprises disagrees.

According to a statement from MikLin, the posters disparaged the company’s reputation and showed “extreme disloyalty and malicious intent to damage” the company.

If you want to preserve the company’s reputation, try not to make customers barf – it’s bad for business.

The workers currently have a four-point system, in which workers are deducted one point for missing work without finding a replacement and half a point for coming to work 10 minutes late.

At four points, the worker is fired.

Are all Jimmy John’s ingredients made this way?

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Alfalfa sprouts grown in Illinois have sickened at least 112 people in 18 states with salmonella since Nov. 2010, and many of those sick ate the sprouts on Jimmy John’s sandwiches.

On Jan. 3, 2011, in a separate outbreak, health officials fingered clover sprouts produced by Sprouters Northwest, Inc. of Kent, Wash. as the source of a separate salmonella outbreak that has sickened three in Oregon and four in Washington. Once again, the vehicle in at least some of the illnesses was Jimmy John’s sandwiches with sprouts.

In mid-Jan. 2011, John Liautaud, the owner of the Jimmy John’s sandwich shop chain, said his restaurants will be replacing alfalfa sprouts with allegedly easier-cleaned clover sprouts, effective immediately.

Mr. Liautaud, perhaps you should inspect your suppliers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did that at the Sprouter’s Northwest facility and found:

• failure to take necessary precautions to protect against contamination of food and food contact surfaces with microorganisms and foreign substances;
• failure to clean food-contact surfaces as frequently as necessary to protect against contamination of food;
• failure to clean non-food-contact surfaces of equipment as frequently as necessary to protect against contamination;
• effective measures not being taken to protect against contamination of food on the premises by pests;
• failure to properly store equipment, remove litter and waste, and cut weeds or grass that may constitute an attractant, breeding place or harborage area for pests, within the immediate vicinity of the plant, building, or structures;
• failure to maintain buildings, fixtures, or other physical structures in a sanitary condition;
• failure to hold raw materials in bulk or suitable containers so as to protect against contamination; and,
• failure to maintain buildings and physical facilities in repair sufficient to prevent food from becoming adulterated.

The original table of North American raw sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprout-associated-outbreaks-north-america-1990-2009.
 

Salmonella-in-sprouts sick climbs to 125, water sample positive

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As soon as Tiny Greens of Illinois was fingered as the source of the suspect sprouts in a salmonella outbreak largely linked to Jimmy John’s sandwiches, an astute public health-type e-mailed me and said, “check out their water supply.”

I’m not sure what water is being used where and for what, but according to the Tiny Greens website, they recycle all water.

“At Tiny Greens, we have one of the only complete systems that we are aware of to clean, improve, and re-use our water. The natural biological processes that are continually present in the undisturbed eco-systems around us are utilized in a controlled environment to clean and re-cycle our water.”

Here’s what looks like the important point:

“Next, the middle layer of clarified wastewater liquid flows out of the septic tank into a sand filter. The sand filter uses outside air, thus further treating the water aerobically (using bacteria requiring oxygen). Sand filters provide a high level of treatment and normally produce effluent that tests 99.9% bacteria and virus-free. … Sand filters are the preferred treatment method at Tiny Greens and their nutrient-rich, disinfected water can be utilized as free fertilizing water for growing plants."

99.9 per cent may sound impressive, but may also mean crap (literally).

On Friday, CDC announced that from Nov. 1, 2010, through Jan. 11, 2011, 125 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-, whose illnesses began since November 1, have been reported from 22 states and the District of Columbia. Results of the investigation indicate a link to eating Tiny Greens Alfalfa Sprouts or Spicy Sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurant outlets.

Testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of one environmental (water run-off) sample identified Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:- that is indistinguishable from the outbreak strain.

Tiny Greens’ owner Bill Bagby criticized testing by the FDA and the Illinois Department of Public Health as not being comprehensive enough.

“The [FDA statement] is misleading. That burns me up! … I learn something from every single inspector that comes here. Looking at all of this in a positive way, this is a chance for us to do something better.”
 

Sprouts still suck

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Good to see my food safety friend Michael Brodsky keeping up the food safety fight back in my native Ontario (that’s in Canada).

In 2005, an outbreak of salmonella in mung bean sprouts sickened 648 people across Ontario. Yet on Jan. 10, 2011, The Toronto Star, in keeping with all things groovy, ran an article entitled, The indoor garden’s tiny shooting stars.

Brodsky responded (and Jimmy John’s, pay attention):

Nara Schoenberg’s article encouraged people to grow and eat sprouts. As an environmental microbiologist for more than 38 years, I caution against following this recommendation.

In the U.S., since 1996, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts. Most of these outbreaks were caused by Salmonella and E. coli infections. Recently, Tiny Greens Organic Farm of Urbana, Illinois, announced a recall of specific lots of Alfalfa Sprouts and Spicy Sprouts because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

The CDC and Health Canada recommend that children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind (including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts).
Cook sprouts thoroughly to reduce the risk of illness. Cooking thoroughly kills the harmful bacteria.

Request that raw sprouts not be added to your food. If you purchase a sandwich or salad at a restaurant or deli, check to make sure that raw sprouts have not been added. It is irresponsible to advocate an activity that could cause serious illness without including an adequate precautionary warning.

Jimmy John’s food safety challenged, changing to clover sprouts

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Alfalfa sprouts grown in Illinois have sickened at least 112 people in 18 states with salmonella since Nov. 2010, and many of those sick ate the sprouts on Jimmy John’s sandwiches.

On Jan. 3, 2011, in a separate outbreak, health officials reported fingering clover sprouts produced by Sprouters Northwest, Inc. of Kent, Wash. as the source of a separate salmonella outbreak that has sickened three in Oregon and four in Washington. Once again, the vehicle in at least some of the illnesses was Jimmy John’s sandwiches with sprouts.

William E. Keene, a senior epidemiologist at Oregon Public Health Division said,

“This is at least the 13th sprout-caused outbreak that has sickened Oregonians since 1995, when we first started warning consumers about the risks of eating sprouts. Anyone concerned about foodborne disease should consider this before eating sprouts. … This is a food to avoid. If you’re concerned about getting sick, I wouldn’t eat sprouts."

Yesterday, John Liautaud, the owner of the Jimmy John’s sandwich shop chain, said his restaurants will be replacing alfalfa sprouts with easier-cleaned clover sprouts, effective immediately.

Mr. ‘I-have-a-sign-on-my-head-that-says-sue-me’ Liautaud said he was making the change to clover sprouts because they are easier to clean, than alfalfa sprouts, and that to the best of his knowledge, not one case of salmonella carried by alfalfa sprouts can be traced to one of his restaurants.

Lawyers, take your places.

The original table of North American raw sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprout-associated-outbreaks-north-america-1990-2009.