Food and Drug Administration inspectors have identified an array of sloppy hygiene practices at an Illinois alfalfa sprout farm as a “possible source” of a salmonella outbreak that recently sickened 125 or more people.
Authorities previously said that a strain of salmonella involved in the multi-state outbreak showed up in water run-off samples at Tiny Greens Organic Farm in Urbana. People who became sick ate Tiny Greens Alfalfa Sprouts and Spicy Sprouts (a mixture of alfalfa, radish and clover sprouts) that were distributed to Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches restaurants and other possible outlets.
More than half of those sickened live in Illinois, where 59 people have been stricken.
The inspectors’ Form 483 report, now made public following the conclusion of the food contamination investigation, suggests how the bacteria might have migrated from the water run-off to a greenhouse.
On Dec. 21, 2010, the report says, an inspector saw an employee dumping production waste into a compost pile. Because of the grade of the land, run-off water from the compost pile pooled in a drain “along the walkway 11 ft from the entrance to the greenhouse. After walking through the compost pile and water, this employee returned to production wearing the same clothing and boots.”
“This is the site,” the inspector notes, of the “positive identification” of the salmonella strain linked to the outbreak.
The FDA produces Form 483 reports to list items that, in the opinion of investigators, demonstrate deviation from the agency’s manufacturing quality requirements.
Tiny Greens’ owner, Bill Bagby, has criticized the testing of samples from his farm by the FDA and the Illinois Department of Public Health as not being comprehensive enough. But the FDA inspectors questioned Tiny Green’s testing of irrigation water and sprout samples, which is done by an outside lab. “The test methodology the lab used … was not validated for detection of Salmonella in alfalfa sprouts or spent irrigation water,” the FDA inspectors said.
Some of the inspectors’ other observations:
- An “amphibian/reptile” was kept in the reception room of the firm, which was next to the production area.
- Employees stored their lunches, including such items as raw bacon, in the same cooler where finished sprouts were stored.
- Organic matter was on a table where sprouts were packaged, and a “biofilm-like buildup” was seen on sprouting trays after they were cleaned.
- A substance that looked like mold was on walls and the ceiling in a mung-bean sprouting room.
Tiny Greens recalled certain lots of its sprouts Dec. 29. The FDA has said the firm has committed itself to taking necessary corrective steps.
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