Twenty-three people in 10 states, including one 4-month-old boy in Oregon, have been sickened with Salmonella after consuming alfalfa sprouts, prompting a nationwide product recall.
AP reports that Caldwell Fresh Foods of Maywood, CA, along with the Oregon Department of Human Services, announced the recall on Friday. Caldwell’s alfalfa sprouts were sold in 18 states in certain outlets of Trader Joe’s, Wal-Mart, Kings Super Markets, Numero Uno, Cardenas Markets, Gonzales Northgate Markets, Jons Markets and Canton Foods.
According to the company, the recalled sprouts were sold in plastic cups and plastic bags under the Caldwell Fresh Foods brand, plastic cups under the Nature’s Choice brand and plastic containers under the California Fresh Exotics brand.
Eleven of the sickened people were from California. The baby boy who was sickened was fed alfalfa sprouts mixed with other foods. He was hospitalized, but has now recovered.
Salmonella is a bacteria which can cause diarrhea, fever and vomiting leading to serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children and people with weakened immune systems.
Salmonella can survive for weeks outside a living body, and is not destroyed by freezing. One way to kill the bacteria is to heat it to at least 167 °F (75 °C) for ten minutes or more.
