I love my sprouts, whether in a salad or on a sandwich. Few salad bars that I frequent have sprouts any more, and now I know why. Sprouts are causing a crisis for Jimmy John's, and the company and its most loyal customers are ignoring it.
"The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 12 cases of E. coli poisoning in five states are linked to raw clover sprouts eaten at Jimmy John's restaurants. The outbreak comes a year after raw alfalfa sprouts from one of the chain's suppliers were linked to 140 salmonella illnesses. Sprouts from the chain's suppliers were also linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in several Midwestern states and were suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Boulder, Colo. in 2008." (http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/safety/story/2012-02-16/Tainted-sprouts-again-linked-to-Jimmy-Johns/53114120/1)
Unfortunate. What's even more unfortunate is, after the same crisis struck in the past, Jimmy John's has no response.
"Illinois-based Jimmy John's declined to comment on the outbreak. After the salmonella outbreak a year ago, the company said it would switch from using alfalfa sprouts to using clover sprouts because they are easier to clean. But federal regulators warn against eating all raw sprouts, which are one of the most frequent perpetrators of foodborne illness."
That's probably why I can't get sprouts at the salad bar these days. It turns out that the warm, humid conditions needed to grow sprouts are the same conditions in which bacteria thrive. According to the CDC, there have been 30-plus outbreaks associated with raw sprouts in the United States in the last 15 years. An outbreak in Japan in 1986 sickened thousands of people with E. coli. Fenugreek sprout seeds from Egypt killed more than 50 people who contracted of E. coli poisoning in Europe last year.
"In most sprout outbreaks the restaurant is not to blame for the contamination itself. Contamination usually happens when the seeds are grown or harvested and is often impossible to wash off. Food safety lawyer Bill Marler has represented victims in the three previous sprout outbreaks potentially linked to Jimmy John's. He has pushed the FDA to require warning labels on sprouts and praises restaurants that have taken them off the menu.
"\You have to wonder what this company is thinking,' he said."
Yeah, I do wonder what this company is thinking. No comment and no news on your website since January 3? (http://www.jimmyjohns.com/company/news.aspx) Come on, Jimmy John's. You've been through this before. It's not your fault, even though you'll take the publicity and legal hits unless you can make menu changes and sue the guilty supplier.
I also wonder what customers are thinking. Jimmy John's Facebook page has virtually no comments about the contamination. ( http://www.facebook.com/jimmyjohns?sk=wall) Maybe they've been removed. Instead, people are asking that sprouts be returned for their sandwiches and ask why there aren't any sprouts any more. All but one six minutes ago: "
Jimmy John's needs to reassure customers and potential customers, and I consider myself among the latter. One Facebook writer said she asked the owner at a Jimmy John's store why there weren't any sprouts, and he said he didn't know. The owner didn't know!
That's unacceptable. I think I'll just keep going to Subway for my sandwiches.
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3 comments:
Jimmy john business coach called where calling stores telling managers to say they ran out of sprouts instead of telling the consumers the truth. When I wrote this on his facebook page because the company always stresses integredy, my post was deleted. He has a history of bad public relations when something like this happens.
My business coach told me to remove all sprouts from my stores yesterday morning (2/16/12). At 5:20pm EST yesterday, I received an email from Jimmy saying that he was done with sprouts and that they would be permanently removed from the menu.
So, Dan Hicks - Ralph Nader wannabe, JJ's unwillingness to comment yesterday morning kinda set you off, didn't it? So now you're going to change the world by bringing down Jimmy Johns, is that it? Do you realize how difficult it is for a chain of over 1000 stores to get on the same message at the exact same time? They have to make considerations for everything ranging from in-store menu boards, drive-thru menu boards, online ordering, printed materials, etc.
Or does your hubris make you think that your negative blog prompted immediate action from JJs? You wrote,"Sprouts are causing a crisis for Jimmy John's, and the company and its most loyal customers are ignoring it." Funny, JJs didn't ignore it if they pulled sprouts from all their stores yesterday before announcing a permanent removal from the menu. JJs just ignored you.
Get over yourself, Dan Hicks. Go hang out with Jared and Clay Henry at Subway and enjoy your $5 shoe leather footlong. Funny, we receive daily produce deliveries, but I have yet to see a produce truck deliver fresh goods to the Subway a block away from my store. Perhaps you forgot that less than 2 years ago, Subway voluntarily withdrew all lettuce, green peppers, red onions and tomatoes after some 90 people were made ill with the rare salmonella bacterial strain called Hvittingfoss. Eat fresh? Right.
I don't believe the issue in my opinion is his lack of response to the public, I think its his lack of response to the owners of his franchizes. They knew about this for days, and did not tell an owner to feb 16th. I received a call at 8am from my business coach and was told to say that we just ran out of sprouts. That's not right. Even his statement last night was ignorant to the issue, and he came off as an ass. He basically said he was getting rid of sprouts bc of media attention, not bc people where getting sick. Your loyal to jimmy, but he is not loyal back when push comes to shove. I'm selling this business asap.
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