Tests show suspect Idaho sprouts uncontaminated

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COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Tests show no traces of salmonella were found at a northern Idaho sprouts facility that was blamed for several cases of food poisoning.

Moyee Springs' Evergreen Produce recalled its alfalfa and spicy sprouts under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration, which said the plant was linked to 25 cases of salmonella poisoning in people from Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and New Jersey. But The Spokesman-Review reports test results from today showed no traces of the organism on dozens of packages of sprouts, seeds, wash water and processing surfaces.

FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said the negative test results don't rule out Evergreen as the source, because the pathogen could have tainted only a portion of the food.

Nadine Scharf, the owner of Evergreen Fresh Produce, said she's had to lay off 10 of 14 workers and her company is on the verge of collapse after customers stopped making orders in the weeks following the government action. She's had to sell three vehicles to raise cash to pay her bills.

"We are about down to nothing," Scharf said.

Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said those who were sickened with salmonella, including three who were hospitalized, had all eaten spicy sprouts and alfalfa sprouts from Evergreen. The cases involved 10 people from Washington, three from Idaho and 10 from Montana.

Scharf said her 23-year-old company has followed a careful protocol of human hygiene, tests on wash water, quarterly inspections and routine disinfections for years, and her plant has always had a clean record. She's gone to producing 6,000 pounds of sprouts a week to producing small amounts of mung bean, clover and broccoli sprouts, Scharf said.

"Hopefully our business can get back on an even keel again," she said.

Since 1996, there have been 30 reported outbreaks of food-borne illnesses connected to raw or lightly cooked sprouts, the FDA said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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