Alfalfa sprout warning issued
April 27 2009
The Food and Drug Administration is recommending consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts until further notice because the popular crunchy greens have been linked to a salmonella saintpaul outbreak in six states.
Officials believe infected seeds, sold nationwide, are the source of the outbreak. The warning does not include bean and other types of sprouts.
There have been 31 cases of salmonella saintpaul in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia linked to alfalfa sprouts since mid-March, FDA says. No deaths have been reported. The current outbreak appears to be an extension of an outbreak that sickened more than 100 in February and March in Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota, officials say.
Raw sprouts have been linked to several outbreaks of salmonella over the past two decades, FDA says.
Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps and usually lasts four to seven days. It is especially dangerous to the elderly, infantsand people with impaired immune systems.