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On Tuesday, the federal agencyissued a warning letteragainst the sandwich chain for selling produce that were implicated in five outbreaks of E. coli or salmonella dating back to 2012.
“Jimmy John’s restaurants have been implicated in multiple outbreaks that have spanned the past seven years and impacted consumers in no fewer than 17 states,” FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannassaid in a news release. “Jimmy John’s has not demonstrated implementation of long-term sustainable corrections to its supply chain to assure the safety of ingredients used in its products.”
In the letter, the FDA summarized evidence linking Jimmy John’s to illness cases in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Idaho, Montana, Michigan, Utah, California, Washington and Colorado and accused the restaurant franchise of engaging “in a pattern of receiving and offering for sale adulterated fresh produce, specifically clover sprouts and cucumbers.”
The FDA found the “corporate-wide supplier control mechanisms” for receiving produce at Jimmy John’s and its parent company, Inspire Brands, to be “inadequate,” the letter said.
“In your response to this letter, please describe and document steps you have or will take to prevent the receipt and sale of adulterated food at each of the approximately 2,800 Jimmy John’s restaurants,” the warning read.
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The FDA also issued a warning letter toSprouts Unlimited Wholesale Foodsfor supplying “adulterated” sprouts to Jimmy John’s on Tuesday. In that letter, the agency claimed the sprouts — which they determined to “contain an added poisonous or deleterious substance which may render them injurious to health” — sickened 22 people in 2019.
Jimmy John’s has since announced that the chain will be removing sprouts from all its locations until further notice.
source: people.com
