Tainted Alfalfa Sprouts Sicken 70 People

Alfalfa sprouts tainted with E. coli sickened at least 70 people in Michigan and Virginia, the first time the salad-bar favorite has been blamed for an outbreak of the deadly bacteria, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The sprouts were probably contaminated by animal waste while they were still seeds, the CDC said. The seeds came from the same distributor, which the agency would not identify.

In June and July, 60 people in Michigan and 48 in Virginia became ill from E. coli bacteria, about double the numbers from last year, said Dr. Roger Shapiro, a CDC epidemiologist. At least 70 of those cases were linked to sprouts.

E. coli causes severe, bloody diarrhea and stomach cramps. The infection usually goes away in a week but sometimes is fatal. About 10,000 to 20,000 E. coli infections occur in the United States each year.

The infection is most dangerous to infants, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.

The CDC said it is not clear whether the contamination took place at the farms where the seeds were grown or at the company that distributed them. But the agency said the growing operations where the sprouts were harvested appeared to be sanitary.

E. coli infections usually are linked to undercooked ground beef. In July, 20 people in Colorado got sick from ground beef patties distributed by Hudson Foods Inc. of Rogers, Ark.

On Thursday, the Agriculture Department announced that Hudson has doubled the amount of frozen hamburger patties it is recalling for possible E. coli contamination.

Jacque Knight, a spokeswoman for the department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, said that federal officials were going over records at the Columbus, Neb., plant where the meat was produced and that the recall could grow. It now stands at 40,000 pounds, about 160,000 burgers.

Consumers become ill by eating infected meat that has not been fully cooked or by handling raw meat and failing to wash their hands.

Knight said about half the suspect frozen hamburger patties went to fast-food chains and half was distributed to retail and wholesale stores.

Earlier, Burger King Corp. issued a statement saying there was no evidence that its beef from Hudson Foods contained the bacteria.

The fast-food restaurant operator said its restaurants and distribution centers would set aside any beef patties from the two production days in question.

The bacteria also can show up in a wide range of foods, especially raw vegetables.

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The CDC reported U.S. outbreaks of E. coli linked to contaminated lettuce in 1995 and 1996 and to unpasteurized apple juice last year. In Japan last year, at least 6,000 people were sickened by E. coli linked to radish sprouts.

Sprouts have also been linked to four salmonella outbreaks in the United States since 1995.

The government recommends washing sprouts, although that is not foolproof.

Also on Thursday, Agriculture Department scientists said the food industry soon will be able to quickly and accurately detect E. coli in food with a new test.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the tests will be used to find E. coli in food “before it gets to the grocery store and the kitchen table.”