Out of an abundance of caution, Living Foods Inc. of Ionia, Michigan, is initiating a voluntary market withdrawal of alfalfa sprouts in response to a Salmonella Typhimurium investigation being conducted by the Michigan departments of Community Health and Agriculture. To date, 12 cases of salmonella in Michigan between August 17 and September 18, 2009, have been associated with this outbreak strain.
 
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.  Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
 
The sprouts were distributed to retail and food service facilities through wholesale produce suppliers in Michigan. 
 
The following list of sprouts are sold under the Living Foods label with a sell by date of October 22 or earlier:  alfalfa sprouts, 5 lb. box; 1 lb. bag; 4 oz. bag; 4 oz. cup; spicy sprouts, 4 oz. cup;
7 sprout, 4 oz. cup; alfalfa/onion, 4 oz. cup; and alfalfa/garlic, 4 oz. cups.
 
Living Foods is working closely with state officials to determine the exact cause of this problem.  To date, neither Living Foods nor state officials have any laboratory test data linking the sprouts to the illnesses or to the microorganism.
 
Living Foods follows all FDA guidelines including seed sanitization and microbial testing on every growing container.
 
If consumers have any sprouts in their possession, they should be discarded.  Wholesale-retailers should remove the product from sale and cease distribution. Questions should be directed to the company at 616-527-0911.
 
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