The FDA and CDC announced on Friday, August 21, 2026 that raw alfalfa sprouts have sickened 55 people across 15 states in an outbreak carrying two different families of bacteria at once: Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and salmonella. The agencies traced the illnesses to alfalfa sprouts grown by Everything Sprouts, LLC of Minneapolis and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands, and the FDA says it is working with the company and has recommended it conduct a recall.
Four people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Key takeaways
- Do not eat, sell, or serve Calco or Everything Sprouts brand alfalfa sprouts. Throw them out or return them, and clean any surface they touched.
- Of the 55 cases, 46 involved E. coli, 7 involved salmonella, and 2 people were infected with both.
- Rinsing raw sprouts does not fix this. Cooking them does.
What happened
According to the FDA’s outbreak advisory, illnesses began on dates ranging from May 31, 2026 to August 8, 2026, and cases have turned up in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin.
The E. coli side of the outbreak involves three separate strains (O26:H11, O103:H25 and O168:H8). The salmonella side involves one strain, Salmonella Agona. Of the 34 sick people interviewed by state and local health officials, 26 of them, or 76%, reported eating alfalfa sprouts in the week before they got sick.
Minnesota and Wisconsin account for most of the cases.
FDA began an inspection and sample collection at Everything Sprouts on August 19 and recommended the recall. In its recall notice, the company said it had tested its products daily during the outbreak and “have not received any positive lab results,” according to ABC News. The investigation into the source of the contamination is still open.
Dr. Kumar’s take
Two unrelated groups of bacteria showing up in one product is the detail worth pausing on. Outbreaks are usually one bug. “It’s very unusual to have two bugs,” food safety attorney Bill Marler told NBC News. When you see several E. coli strains and a salmonella strain riding the same product, contaminated seed is a more natural explanation than a single dirty machine, because seed is the one ingredient every batch shares.
That fits how sprouts actually work. FDA’s own consumer guidance explains that sprouts are grown from seeds and beans under warm and humid conditions, and that “these conditions are also ideal for the growth of bacteria, including Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli.” A handful of bacteria on or inside a seed can multiply to dangerous levels during germination. The growing process is, in effect, an incubator.
That is also why the usual kitchen advice fails here. Washing produce reduces surface bacteria, but bacteria that entered the seed before sprouting are not on the surface to be rinsed off, and FDA notes this happens even when people grow sprouts at home under clean conditions.
The seed theory is not confirmed. ABC News reported that FDA had warned this same company about “serious violations” after an inspection last year, including roof leaks dripping onto produce and buildup of black organic matter on an irrigation hose. Facility conditions could be part of this. The traceback and the lab work will sort that out, and until they do, both explanations are live.
What it means for you
Check your refrigerator and freezer. If you have Calco or Everything Sprouts brand alfalfa sprouts, or any repackaged sprouts you cannot identify, throw them away. Clean and sanitize containers and surfaces they touched.
Call your doctor if you ate these sprouts and developed symptoms. E. coli symptoms start a few days to nine days after exposure and include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. Bloody diarrhea deserves a same-day call, because Shiga toxin-producing E. coli can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a form of acute kidney failure. Salmonella usually shows up 12 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food and lasts four to seven days.
The broader point outlives this recall. FDA already advises that people more vulnerable to foodborne illness, meaning children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, “should avoid eating raw or lightly cooked sprouts of any kind.” That advice has been sitting on FDA’s site for years, and most coverage of these outbreaks skips it.
If you like sprouts, cook them. Heat kills these bacteria. That single step takes a food with a long outbreak record and makes it safe.