Final Report Out on Jimmy John's Sandwiches By: Haley McAdams The final word is out on the raw clover sprouts in Jimmy John's sandwiches, implicated in the multistate E. coli infection that ran from late December 2011 to early March of 2012. The early-quarter outbreak, downed 29 individuals who had eaten at one of the Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich restaurants.
Mindful of the prevalence of foodborne-illness outbreaks and the ease with which infections such E. coli and Salmonella spread, many restaurant owners now require a food handler certification or a food safety certification as an employment requirement, the better to protect the dining public from harm—and their businesses from ruin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Final Case Update put the final breakdown of cases by state as follows: Michigan (10), Iowa (5), Missouri (3), Ohio (3), Kansas (2), and one each for Alabama, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. CDC reported that seven of the infected individuals needed hospitalization, although none progressed to hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly complication of E. coli infection, especially in young children. The victims’ ages ranged from 9 to 57. Most were females. According to CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), no food recalls were necessary for this outbreak. Neither CDC nor the FDA has named the sprout supplier.
Because of the numerous points of contamination on their way from farm to fork, raw sprouts are considered a high-risk food. In the U.S. alone, raw sprouts have been linked to no less than 40 foodborne-illness outbreaks (E. coli and Salmonella infections) since 1990. Learn2serve.com, a 360training.com portal for online food safety certification and online food handler certification, educates restaurant workers in the critical protocols of proper food handling and food safety to help keep the public safe when dining out.