FDA Updates on Clover Sprout E. coli O103 Outbreak.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an update on their investigation of the E. coli O103 outbreak linked to Clover Sprouts on April 22, 2020. The FDA is currently still advising consumers to avoid consuming the products recalled by Chicago Indoor Garden on March 16, 2020, due to E. coli O103 contamination. The products affected by the recall were all the products containing Red Clover sprouts with “Best By” dates between 12/1/2019 and 3/12/2020. The contaminated products have been linked to E. coli O103, sickening at least 51 people in 10 states.
The FDA is working along side the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials to investigate the multi-state E. coli Outbreak. The cases linked to the outbreak are from FL (1), ID (1) IA (3), IL (7), MO (1), NY (1), TX (1) UT (34), VA (1), and WY (1). According to the FDA report, the recalled Chicago Indoor Garden products were tested, and through Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) it was discovered that the bacteria found in the recalled products matched the outbreak strain. The outbreak strain also matched the E. coli strain of an outbreak which took place from November to December 2019 in Iowa affecting a number of Jimmy John’s restaurant patrons. The 2019 E. coli outbreak was listed in the Warning Letter sent to Jimmy John’s Franchise LLC due to the fact that it was linked to sprouts that were served in various Jimmy John’s restaurants.
In their most recent report, the FDA announced that their investigation of the current E. coli outbreak linked to sprouts is now completed and the outbreak has been declared over by the CDC. The last know case linked to the outbreak was reported on March 15, 2020, and the recalled products are past their “Best by” dates. No deaths were reported as linked to the outbreak but 3 people required hospitalization.
Consumers who ate any of the recalled products have been advised to stay vigilant for symptoms of E. coli such as nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, fever, and diarrhea which can at times be bloody. According to a National E. coli Lawyer, Ron Simon, those more prone to contracting an E. coli infection are children, the elderly, and people with weak immune systems.
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/foods-linked-illness.html#sprouts
