SEATTLE, WA—In light of the recent announcement that 94 people nationwide have become ill with Salmonella after eating contaminated alfalfa sprouts, many on sandwiches served at Jimmy John’s restaurants, the Marler Clark food safety attorneys called today for the sandwich chain to eliminate sprouts from its menu.
“What we’re seeing here is history repeating itself way too many times,” said Marler Clark attorney Dave Babcock. “Sprouts have been implicated in nearly 40 foodborne illness outbreaks since 1990, and Jimmy Johns sandwiches have been linked to several of the recent ones.”
Marler Clark has represented food poisoning victims from Jimmy John’s outbreaks linked to sprouts in each of the last two years. In 2008, at least 17 Colorado residents became ill with E. coli O157:NM during an outbreak traced to E. coli-contaminated alfalfa sprouts served at Colorado Jimmy John’s stores, and in 2009 many of the 272 people sickened during a nationwide Salmonella outbreak traced to alfalfa sprout seeds sold by Caudill Seed became ill after eating contaminated sprouts on Jimmy John’s sandwiches.
“Jimmy Johns is a victim of its own methods and success when it comes to sprout –linked foodborne illnesses,” Babcock continued. “Sandwiches with raw sprouts are unfortunately engineered with a flaw—no cooking step to kill bacteria—and a chain restaurant that sells as many sandwiches nationally as Jimmy Johns has an obligation to take needed measures to ensure the safety of its product. It’s not as if the nearly 40 sprout outbreaks in the last two decades don’t suggest that there’s a problem.”
BACKGROUND: The attorneys at Marler Clark, the Food Safety Law Firm, have been representing victims of foodborne illnesses such as Salmonella and E. coli for nearly 20 years. The firm’s attorneys have represented victims of foodborne illness outbreaks in claims against Chili’s, ConAgra, Dole, Nestle, and Wendy’s. Marler Clark sponsors informational Websites about Salmonella, E. coli, and foodborne illness in general, as well as Websites about complications of foodborne illness such as post-infectious Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Reactive Arthritis, and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.
For more information, or to talk with Mr. Babcock, contact Cody Moore at (206) 346-1878 or cmoore@marlerclark.com.