FDA Warns Jimmy John’s After 5 Outbreaks Of E. Coli, Salmonella

Did that trip to Jimmy John’s result in unexpected trips to the John or possibly even the hospital?

Well, a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent to Jimmy John’s Franchise, LLC, last Friday showed how the restaurant chain may have played roles in five food-borne outbreaks since 2012. That’s four Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STECs) outbreaks and one Salmonella enterica outbreak over a seven-year period.

As you probably know, the FDA rarely sends letters to restaurant chains just to say “what’s up” or “how’s it going” or “here are some Facebook memories that involved diarrhea.” No, this letter was to reference the five outbreaks and state that “the evidence demonstrates that your corporation, through your franchised Jimmy John’s restaurants, engaged in a pattern of receiving and offering for sale adulterated fresh produce, specifically clover sprouts and cucumbers.”

Ouch. A decorative pattern is one thing. A pattern of receiving or selling adulterated food is something completely different and violates Acts that the FDA cited in its letter. Dictionary.com defines adulterate as “to debase or make impure by adding inferior materials or elements; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods in the production of (any professedly genuine article).”

It is safe to say that STECs or Salmonella in your sprouts or cucumbers would certainly make them “less desirable.” No one should desire the bad and often bloody diarrhea and other highly unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms that these bacteria can bring. But that’s not all. In some cases, both types of bacteria can lead to very serious life-threatening illnesses. For example, STECs can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a type of kidney failure, that I previously described for Forbes. Salmonella can be hella bad too, as I detailed for Forbes when there was a beef with Salmonella last year.

This Mashable video entitled “What You Should Know Before Eating At Jimmy John's Again” mentions a couple of the outbreaks as well as other potential concerns:

Here are the five outbreaks that the FDA mentioned in its letter, listed here in chronological order:  

1. E. coli O26: As of April 5, 2012, there had been a total of 29 cases from eleven states. Of the 27 interviewed, 85% (23) reported eating sprouts at one of six Jimmy John’s restaurant in the seven days preceding the onset of their illnesses. 
2. E. coli O157:H7 (STEC): As of the end of October 2013, there had been eight reported cases from Colorado with 100% eating a sandwich with raw cucumbers at one of three Jimmy John’s restaurants in the Denver metro area. 
3. E. coli O102 (STEC): As of August 1, 2014, there had been 19 reported cases in Idaho, Montana, Michigan, Utah, California, and Washington with 13 (81%) of 16 ill persons eating raw clover sprouts in the week before becoming ill. A number of the cases that were investigated had gotten their sprouts from Jimmy John’s restaurants. 
4. Salmonella Montevideo: As of February 28, 2018, there had been ten reported cases with eight having eaten raw sprouts at Jimmy John’s restaurants in Illinois and Wisconsin in the week prior to getting sick. 
5. E. coli O103 (STEC): As of January 7, 2020, there’s been 22 reported cases from Iowa. Of the 20 who were interviewed, all had eaten at Jimmy John’s restaurants with nine eating sprouts in the week before the onset of their illness. 

As they say, once can be an accident, twice a coincidence, and three times a pattern. What’s four and five times then? The FDA letter indicated that all of these outbreaks combined, which in total has affected people in at least seventeen different states, “demonstrate the corporate-wide supplier control mechanisms that [Jimmy John’s has] in place for receiving fresh produce are inadequate.” It also stated that the company has “not provided FDA with any information demonstrating long-term, sustainable corrections have been implemented throughout your organization to prevent this violation from recurring in the future.”

The Dear Jimmy John’s letter wasn’t the only sprout-related letter sent by the FDA on February 21. The latest of the five aforementioned outbreaks prompted the FDA to send a separate warning letter to Sprouts Unlimited Inc., as well. Take a wild guess as to what Sprouts Unlimited distributes. The FDA pointed out several specific food safety violations committed by the sprouts distributor, including not testing sprout irrigation water for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella or not holding products until receiving results from such testing.

The letter also stated that the company “did not take corrective actions after environmental samples of their growing, harvesting, packing, or holding areas had tested positive for Listeria species or Listeria monocytogenes.” What’s all this Listeria? It’s another type of bacteria that can cause not only bad gastroenteritis but also in some cases potentially life-threatening problems. I covered for Forbes this nasty bacteria when Listeria was found in, oh Mann, vegetables.

Additionally, the letter pointed out that Sprouts Unlimited “did not clean and sanitize your food contact surfaces used to grow, harvest, pack, or hold sprouts before contact with sprouts or seeds or beans used to grow sprouts.” Not cleaning or sanitizing food contact surfaces? Um, that could certainly sprout something.

Sprouts Unlimited won’t have an unlimited time to respond to the letter sent to them. Neither will Jimmy John’s. Both will have 15 working days from receipt of the letters to separately respond with the specific corrective actions that each will take. I reached out to both companies for comments and will provide updates accordingly.

Jimmy John’s did respond with a statement from James North, president of Jimmy John’s, that said: “Food safety is our top priority. Sprouts present particular challenges, given our unwavering commitment to world-class food safety standards. Therefore, we made the decision to permanently remove sprouts from all restaurants and acted swiftly to do so. As of Monday, February 24, sprouts are no longer being served in any restaurant, and they will remain out of our restaurants permanently.”

So looks like sprouts are on the outs at Jimmy John’s.