Seventeen people in five states have been sickened by E. coli after eating clover sprouts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That's up from the 10 cases reported by the CDC in late May.

No deaths have been linked to the E. coli outbreak, the CDC says, but nearly half of those sickened were hospitalized. Three cases were identified in Idaho, one in Michigan, two in Montana, one in Utah and 10 in Washington state.
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Another day, another food safety warning. Earlier this week it was beef, hummus and walnuts. This time, the culprit is sprouts.

In a press release issued Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised consumers not to eat Evergreen Produce brand raw clover. The release states that these sprouts are possibly linked to seven confirmed and three probable cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in Idaho and Washington. Fifty percent of the people sickened were hospitalized.

Even people with uncompromised immune systems are strongly cautioned to discard any Evergreen Produce sprouts in sealed containers so no other humans, pets or wild animals can consume them and become infected. Thoroughly cooking sprouts can reduce the chance of foodborne illness, says the FDA, but be careful – since 1996, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with different types of raw and, yes, lightly cooked sprouts.

But aren't sprouts supposed to be - healthy? They're the stuff of health food cafes and virtuous hummus pockets. They're supposed to add beneficial, low-calorie crunch to salads and sandwiches, not cause you to, per the CDC, "develop diarrhea (often bloody) and abdominal cramps" or possibly become severely ill and die.
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The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service on Wednesday named retailers in nine states that may have received tainted beef.

Two days earlier, the FSIS announced that 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products were being recalled on fears that they could be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

The federal agency named five stores in nine states. They are as follows:
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The United States Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Monday that 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products are being recalled on fears that they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

Recalled cases of beef from Wolverine Packing Company in Detroit, Michigan, were produced between March 31, 2014 and April 18, 2014 and shipped to distributors for restaurant use in Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. A complete list of products can be found on the FSIS website.
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