The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating a multistate salmonella outbreak linked to recalled broccoli sprouts from an Idaho company with a history of foodborne illness outbreaks. According to the FDA, the outbreak is tied to broccoli sprouts produced by Evergreen Fresh Sprouts, LLC, based in Moyie Springs, Idaho.

As of Tuesday (September 9), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health partners had confirmed 22 cases of Salmonella Bovismorbificans across four states — Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Utah. Two people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. Washington has the highest number of cases, followed by Montana, Idaho, and Utah.

Evergreen Fresh Sprouts issued a recall on Thursday (September 4) after Montana health officials found salmonella in an unopened package of the company's sprouts collected from a sick person's home. Whole genome sequencing confirmed that the salmonella strain found in the sprouts matched the strain making people sick. The recall covers broccoli sprouts packaged in plastic bags or clamshell containers with expiration dates of September 7, 9, 11, 14, and 16, 2026. The recalled sprouts were sold to grocery stores, restaurants, and foodservice customers in Idaho, Montana, and Washington, and may have been distributed to additional states.

The FDA urges consumers not to eat the recalled sprouts. Restaurants and retailers should not sell or serve them. Anyone who has handled the recalled sprouts should clean and sanitize all surfaces and containers that may have come into contact with them.

Illness onset dates range from July 7 to August 18. Of the 12 Washington patients available for interview, eight reported eating sprouts from Evergreen Fresh Sprouts, and seven of those eight specifically recalled eating broccoli sprouts. Cases have been confirmed in seven Washington counties, including King, Whatcom, Spokane, Skagit, Snohomish, Walla Walla, and Yakima.

This is the third salmonella-related outbreak tied to Evergreen Fresh Sprouts since 2011. According to food safety attorney Bill Marler of Marler Clark, Inc., the company was linked to a 2011 outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis that sickened 25 people in five states and a 2014 E. coli O121 outbreak that sickened 19 people in six states. Across all three outbreaks, a total of 60 people have been made ill.

The 2014 FDA inspection of the company's facility documented troubling conditions, including condensate and irrigation water dripping from rusty valves, a corroded watering system, and employees using tennis rackets to scoop sprouts out of water and onto a conveyor belt. The company received a formal FDA warning letter after the 2011 outbreak.

Marler has been critical of the company's track record. "Sixty people sick over fifteen years, and one recall, issued in 2011 only after the company first refused and FDA took the unusual step of warning the public directly not to eat the sprouts," Marler said. "In 2014 there was no recall at all, and the company kept producing and shipping clover sprouts from the seed lot tied to the outbreak for more than a month after the outbreak was announced."

State and federal health officials continue to investigate the source and scope of the outbreak. Sprout samples from Evergreen and other suppliers are undergoing testing at public health laboratories in Washington and Montana. The case count is expected to rise as additional laboratory testing is completed.

Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham