Wholesome Soy Products to discontinue production of mung bean and soybean sprouts

The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Illinois-based Wholesome Soy Products after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found several samples of contaminated food.

As per the consent decree, the company will be prohibited from receiving, processing, manufacturing, preparing, packing, holding and distributing ready-to-eat mung bean and soybean sprouts.

In August 2014, during routine inspection, the environmental and product samples collected by FDA tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono), a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious illness or even death in vulnerable groups, including elderly adults and those with impaired immune systems (such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and transplant patients).

Following the consumption of the company’s mung bean sprouts, five people from Michigan and Illinois were hospitalised, out of which two people died.

Whole Soy Products announced in November that it would halt production, cease distribution and issue a recall of mung bean sprouts identified as the source of the outbreak.

In January, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention closed its investigation, following which no further cases linked to the company were reported.

Speaking about the consent decree, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs Melinda Plaisier said: "It is FDA’s responsibility to ensure that appropriate action is taken when we conduct inspections and find results that could put consumers at risk.

"Agreeing to the consent decree is a first step in the right direction for this company."