The E. coli O103 outbreak linked to clover sprouts has expanded to include 39 illnesses in six states. Two people have been hospitalized. Since the last update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on February 26, 2020, 25 cases have been added, all but one of them in Utah.
The people sickened in this outbreak, who range in age from 1 to 79 years old, reported onset of illness dates from January 6, 2020 to March 2, 2020.
So far, state and local health officials have interviewed 27 of the people sickened, many of them reported eating sprouts in the week before they became ill. Fourteen of the patients said they ate sprouts on sandwiches they purchased from Jimmy John’s.
Jimmy John’s has since stopped serving sprouts.
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During its investigation of the outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified the outbreak strain of E. coli O103 in sprout samples of Chicago Indoor Garden products containing sprouts. The Chicago-based company produces freshly sprouted beans, greens and grasses including clover sprouts, according to its website.
On March 13, 2020, the FDA issued a recommendation that consumers should not eat five Chicago Indoor Graden products containing red clover sprouts: sprout salad, mixed greens, spring salad and red clover (with and without non-GMO labels). The products have “best by” dates ranging from December 1, 2019, to March 12, 2020.
Three days later, on March 16, 2020, Chicago Indoor Garden issued a recall for those products.
In its most recent update about the outbreak, the FDA revealed that a common seed lot was used to grow the sprouts recalled by Chicago Indoor Garden, the sprouts linked to the Jimmy John’s illnesses and the sprouts that were the source of a 2019 clover sprout E. coli outbreak linked to Jimmy John’s. The FDA has not disclosed the name of the seed supplier.
The E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Hageman represent clients sickened by contaminated food. If you would like to request a free consultation with our E. coli Team, call us at 1-888-377-8900, text us at 612-261-0856 or, fill out the form below.