87 people in 11 states got Salmonella food poisoning in an outbreak linked to bean sprouts served at restaurants and processed by Wonton Foods Inc., a New York company.
- Connecticut (CT) – 7 people
- Maine (ME) – 3 people
- Massachusetts (MA) – 35 people
- Montana (MT) – 1 person
- New Hampshire (NH) – 4 people
- New York (NY) – 14 people
- Ohio (OH)- 3 people
- Rhode Island (RI) – 6 people
- Vermont – 3 people
- Virginia – 1 Person
- TOTAL: 87 people
Of the 87 sickened, 27 were hospitalized, according to the CDC. This is a high number for a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak.
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The Evidence
- 42 (78%) of 54 ill persons reported eating bean sprouts or menu items containing bean sprouts in the week before becoming ill. If several unrelated ill persons ate or shopped at the same location of a restaurant or store within several days of each other, it suggests that the contaminated food item was served or sold there.
- Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Among the ill persons who are part of illness clusters in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, all reported consuming menu items that contained bean sprouts.
- Traceback investigations indicated that all of the restaurants involved in the outbreak received bean sprouts from Wonton Foods, Inc. of Brooklyn, New York.
- Wonton Foods was the only bean sprout supplier for 2 of the restaurants.
Wonton Foods Ceases Production, Resumes a Few Days Later
On November 21, 2014, Wonton Foods, Inc. agreed to destroy any remaining sprouts and clean and sanitize the processing area. The company did not issue a recall. On November 24, it completed cleaning and sanitization and restarted production of bean sprouts. It resumed shipment of bean sprouts on November 29, 2014.
The shelf-life of bean sprouts is about 12 days, so the CDC is not expecting any more illnesses linked to the Wonton Foods bean sprouts; however, there may be people who were sickened in the outbreak who have not reported the illness to health authorities.
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