Personal Injury Law

FDA 483 Inspection - Tiny Greens and Jimmy John's sprouts sicken 125 in 22 states with Salmonella I 4,5,12, i-

By Bill Marler, Esq.

During the FDA investigation at Tiny Greens, the FDA made the following findings (tinygreens483.pdf):

• growing sprouts in "soil from the organic material decomposed outside" without using any monitored "kill step" on the material (kind of eliminates the ruckus raised by Tiny Greens' owner Bill Bagby over the finding, saying that the presence of Salmonella in outside compost had nothing to do with the outbreak--nevermind that it was the same strain of Salmonella)

• An "amphibian/reptile" was kept in the reception room of the firm, which adjoined the production area.

• The firm couldn't show that its antimicrobial treatment for seeds, which was not specifically described in the report, was equivalent to the recommended treatment with a bleach solution.

• Employees stored their lunches, including such items as raw bacon, in the same cooler where finished sprouts were stored.

• Organic matter was seen on a table where sprouts were packaged, and a "biofilm-like buildup" was seen on sprouting trays after they were cleaned.

• What looked like mold was seen on walls and ceiling in a mung-bean sprouting room.

• Condensation dripped from the ceiling in production areas throughout the inspection period, which lasted close to a month.

• An outside lab that the firm used to test its water and sprouts used a method that was not validated for detecting Salmonella in those items.

Full post as published by Marler Blog on February 08, 2011 (boomark / email).