Norway reports largest outbreak in decades with 230 sick; sprouts blamed

Norway has reported its largest foodborne outbreak in almost 50 years with 230 people sick.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said 105 people are infected with Salmonella Newport and 120 with Salmonella Typhimurium. The remaining five are infected with other types of Salmonella.

Patients became ill from mid-October to mid-December 2024. They range in age from less than 1 to 90 years old with a median age of 47.5 years old. A total of 159 patients are women and 76 people have been hospitalized.

Sick people live in different parts of the country but Vestland has the most patients with more than 70.

Seeds from Italian supplier
Umaer Naseer, acting section head of infection control and emergency preparedness at FHI, said there has been a large increase in sick people from when the agency last reported on the outbreak in December 2024 when 49 people were ill.

“This is not unexpected as it takes time from sampling of those who have become ill to the final results of the laboratory analyses. Most of the infected people became ill in the period between November and December 2024, around the time of the withdrawal of organic alfalfa sprouts.”

In November 2024, organic alfalfa sprouts were withdrawn from the market by Norske Spirer because of suspected Salmonella contamination. Seeds used in sprout production came from a large Italian company, which also supplied other EU countries.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) and Norwegian Veterinary Institute have detected the same type of Salmonella in sprouts that the lab at FHI found in patients.

“This is one of the largest Salmonella outbreaks linked to a food product we have had in Norway, at least since the 1980s, when chocolate made over 300 people sick,” said Lindis Folkvord, section manager for biological food safety at the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

Sweden had related outbreak
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority interviewed patients, obtained purchase information and looked at the distribution pattern of products. Samples of sprouts were taken at the company and from individuals who fell ill. Samples were also taken in the production premises.

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute detected Salmonella Newport in sprouts and in the production environment at a sprout producer.

Sweden also reported a large outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts from the Italian supplier. From August to November 2024, 100 people from 18 regions fell ill with one of 14 genetically closely related bacterial variants of Salmonella Typhimurium sequence type 36. Of the cases, 65 were women and 35 were men. They ranged in age from 1 to 89 years old with a median of 43 years old.

In Finland, Salmonella Kisarawe was detected in sprouts from Italy but was not found in patients that had consumed the sprouts. These three people were infected by Salmonella Typhimurium. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said it did not know yet if cases were linked to patients in other countries but it was investigating the situation.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are working with authorities in Norway and other EU countries to investigate measures that should be taken to prevent similar outbreaks in the future.

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/01/norway-reports-largest-outbreak-in-decades-with-230-sick-sprouts-blamed/