Although Salmonella in bean sprouts produced by Wonton Foods has sickened 63 people in 10 states, a recall for the tainted product has not been issued. The company told federal officials that its last shipment of the product was November 18 and that it had contacted Asian restaurants and other establishments on the East Coast that received the product. But it did not issues a recall. Nor has it made public a list of  companies that served or sold the sprouts. Headscratching as that may seem, a similar situation happened with both of the other outbreaks linked to sprouts this year. Last month,  an outbreak from sprouts tainted with Listeria killed two people. Still, the producer Wholesome Soy Inc. of Chicago did not issue a recall. In fact, it kept making and distributing sprouts. And in … [Read more...]

Four people in New Hampshire with Salmonella poisoning are part of a 10-state outbreak linked to contaminated bean sprouts.  All four people said they ate the sprouts at restaurants. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that most of the 63 people who are part of the outbreak so far ate sprouts at Asian restaurants before becoming ill, the names of those establishments have not been disclosed. Health authorities say they have notified restaurants that received shipments of sprouts from Wonton Foods Inc. in Brooklyn not to use them. Traceback investigations have implicated Wonton Foods as the producer of the tainted sprouts, but the company has not yet issued a recall. The 10 states included in the outbreak are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, … [Read more...]

For the third time this year, bean sprouts have been linked to a multistate food poisoning outbreak. In May, it was E.coli on clover sprouts. In October,  it was Listeria on mung bean sprouts.  Now it's Salmonella on nonspecified bean sprouts. The outbreak has sickened at least 63 people in the following 10 states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Montana case likely contracted the infection on a visit to the East Coast. Onset of illness dates range from September 30, 2014 to November 8, 2014. Health officials were able to interview 42 of those sickened, most of them remembered eating bean sprouts at "Asian-style food service establishents" before they became ill, according to the Centers for … [Read more...]