Salmonella outbreak tied to Idaho sprout grower spreads with no recall issued

A salmonella outbreak linked to broccoli sprouts grown by a small Idaho producer has sickened at least 16 people across three states, and as of this weekend no recall has been issued for the product, according to state health officials tracking the investigation.

The Washington State Department of Health and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services have traced the outbreak, caused by a rare strain called Salmonella Bovismorbificans, to broccoli sprouts produced by Evergreen Fresh Sprouts, LLC, a grower based in Moyie Springs, a small town in Idaho's northern panhandle near the Canadian border. Both agencies are advising residents to discard or return any broccoli sprouts from the company and to sanitize surfaces that may have touched them.

The numbers

As of the most recent state updates, 13 people in Washington, two in Montana and one in Idaho have laboratory-confirmed infections matching the outbreak strain, for a total of 16 cases. Two of the Washington patients have been hospitalized. Illness onset dates span from July 7 to August 18, according to the Washington DOH, meaning the outbreak has been building for roughly two months before drawing public notice. No deaths have been reported.

The Washington cases are spread across seven counties: King County has four, Whatcom County has three, Spokane County has two, and Skagit, Snohomish, Walla Walla and Yakima counties each have one. Of the patients interviewed, eight reported eating sprouts bought from grocery stores, food co-ops or restaurants, and seven of those specifically recalled eating broccoli sprouts, health officials said.

How this outbreak surfaced

The case is notable less for its size, which is modest compared with several other produce-linked outbreaks unfolding elsewhere in the country this year, than for how it was identified and handled. Neither the FDA's public list of active foodborne illness investigations nor the CDC has listed the sprout outbreak as of this weekend; the case has instead surfaced primarily through state health department postings and food-safety trade press, including reporting by Food Safety News and food-safety attorney Bill Marler's Marler Blog, which first connected the current cases to the company's history.

That history is a significant part of the story. Evergreen Fresh Sprouts has now been linked to three separate outbreaks over 15 years. In 2011, the company's alfalfa and spicy sprouts were tied to a Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak that sickened 25 people in five states; the company initially declined to recall its product, with a co-owner reportedly saying a recall would amount to "admitting guilt," before the FDA took the unusual step of warning consumers directly and the company recalled in July 2011. In 2014, the company's raw clover sprouts were linked to an E. coli O121 outbreak that sickened 19 people in six states and hospitalized nearly half of those with available records; no recall was issued that time, though the FDA's inspection turned up sanitation problems, and an FDA Form 483 inspection report from that visit remains posted in the agency's public reading room. Across the three outbreaks, roughly 60 people have been sickened, and the company has issued one recall.

Raw sprouts have long posed a distinct challenge for food safety regulators because the warm, moist conditions needed to germinate seeds are also ideal for bacterial growth, and the seeds themselves can carry contamination that no amount of downstream washing reliably removes. The FDA has published specific guidance for sprout growers on seed treatment and water testing for years, but sprouts remain one of the produce categories most frequently connected to recurring, multi-year outbreaks tied to the same facility.

Who is affected

The confirmed cases so far are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, consistent with the company's regional distribution network; Washington health officials say the sprouts reached consumers through grocery stores, co-ops and restaurants rather than a single dominant retail chain. Anyone who bought broccoli sprouts from Evergreen Fresh Sprouts in Washington, Montana or Idaho since early July is considered at potential risk, state officials said, and the incubation period for salmonella infection, typically six hours to six days, means people who ate the product weeks ago could still be within the window for delayed symptom onset in isolated cases.

Salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps beginning within a day or so of exposure, resolving on its own within about a week in most healthy adults. Health officials in both states have urged anyone with diarrhea and a fever above 102 degrees, bloody stools, prolonged vomiting or signs of dehydration to contact a medical provider, since severe cases can require hospitalization, particularly among young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Reaction

Coverage of the outbreak has focused heavily on the absence of a recall given the company's track record. In his post on the case, Marler noted that the FDA has held mandatory recall authority over food companies since January 2011, months before the first Evergreen outbreak began, and argued the agency's decision not to use that authority against a repeat offender warrants scrutiny.

Washington and Montana health officials have not publicly commented on why no recall has been issued, and their outbreak notices to date have focused on consumer guidance rather than enforcement questions. Evergreen Fresh Sprouts has not issued a public statement on the current outbreak. Samples from the implicated product were undergoing testing at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory as of the most recent update, a step that typically precedes any decision on further regulatory action.

What happens next

The investigation remains open, and state officials say the case count could rise as more lab results come back and as the FDA and CDC, which typically join state investigations once multistate transmission is confirmed, weigh whether to escalate the matter. A recall, mandatory or voluntary, would most likely follow if federal investigators complete traceback work confirming the sprouts as the source and the FDA opts to press the company, as it did in 2011.

For now, both Washington and Montana health departments are advising consumers who have any broccoli sprouts from Evergreen Fresh Sprouts on hand to throw them away or return them to the place of purchase rather than eat them, and to disinfect refrigerator shelves, drawers and countertops the product may have touched.