Food safety attorney Bill Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark, Inc., PS, has released a draft citizen petition asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require a warning statement on all raw and lightly cooked sprout packaging — and is inviting restaurant operators, retailers, sprout growers, and public health officials to weigh in before he formally files it in October. The move comes as two concurrent sprout outbreaks have left 87 people sick across 19 states.
The Dual Outbreaks
The timing underscores the urgency. Minnesota-grown alfalfa sprouts have been linked to 55 illnesses in 15 states, with four hospitalizations. Separately, Idaho-grown broccoli sprouts have been tied to 32 illnesses in six states and three hospitalizations, according to CDC data updated September 24. FDA has confirmed that broccoli sprouts collected from a Washington grocery store and from a sick person's home both matched the outbreak strain. A September 10 recall of broccoli sprouts covered bags delivered between August 24 and September 2, yet CDC data show 25 of the 32 cases were already ill before August 23. An Ohio seed company also recalled 950 pounds of alfalfa seed sold to home sprouters in 44 states.
What the Petition Asks
The petition asks FDA to amend 21 CFR 101.17 — the same regulation that already mandates warnings on unpasteurized juice, iron-containing supplements, and shell eggs — by adding a parallel paragraph for sprouts. The proposed label language would read: "WARNING: Sprouts may contain harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, that can cause serious illness, kidney failure or death. Sprouts are eaten raw and cannot be pasteurized, and the bacteria may be inside the seed, where washing cannot reach them. Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and persons with weakened immune systems should not eat raw or lightly cooked sprouts." The statement would be boxed with "WARNING" in bold capitals, set in type no smaller than 8 points.
For foodservice operators and retailers, the petition's scope is broad. The required statement would apply not only to packaged retail product but also to signs or menus wherever sprouts are sold unpackaged, to online product listings, and to seed sold for home sprouting. Sprouts treated by a validated pathogen-reduction process would be exempt — mirroring the exemption already in place for treated juice.
Why Operators Should Pay Attention
For restaurant and foodservice professionals, the petition carries immediate operational implications. Marler notes that FDA has advised children, the elderly, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals to avoid raw sprouts since 1998 — guidance that has been codified in the FDA Food Code, which has kept raw sprouts off menus in hospitals, nursing homes, and day-care centers since 1999. Yet that same advisory has never appeared on a consumer-facing product package. "The shopper in the grocery store deserves the same information the patient in the nursing home already gets," Marler said.
FDA's own records count 52 sprout outbreaks and more than 2,700 illnesses in the United States between 1996 and 2020, with contaminated seed identified as the probable source of most of them. Marler first petitioned FDA on this issue in March 2003. The petition requests that a final rule take effect 60 days after publication and asks FDA to urge sellers to begin using the statement voluntarily as soon as it is proposed — the same approach the agency took with juice warnings in 1998.
Restaurant operators who currently serve raw sprouts on sandwiches, salads, or grain bowls should monitor the petition's progress closely. A mandatory labeling rule would reshape supplier documentation requirements and may prompt operators to revisit menu decisions involving high-risk produce items. For broader context on how food safety regulation is reshaping restaurant menus, and for ongoing beverage industry analysis on labeling mandates, the regulatory trajectory points toward greater disclosure at every point of service.
The comment period closes October 9, 2026. After incorporating feedback, Marler will post a revised draft and file the petition with FDA's citizen petition docket, after which the agency has 180 days to respond. The public may then submit comments directly through regulations.gov.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
