Local eateries are taking precautions to ensure that Central Michigan University students will not be affected by possible salmonella contamination in raw alfalfa sprouts.

There have been 16 confirmed cases of salmonella in the southeastern area of the state. Ten of the people infected reported eating raw alfalfa sprouts recently.

Ben Matzke, assistant director of the Robinson Residential Restaurant, said there is very little chance that students will come into contact with tainted food on campus.

“Our supplier, Gordon Food Service, would pull it (the sprouts) before we get it,” Matzke said.

He said GFS monitors food warnings and notifies campus dining when there is a possible threat, as it did when peanuts were contaminated with salmonella earlier this year.

“We’ll pay closer attention to our menus and tell the cooks not to use sprouts in anything,” Matzke said. “It’s better to be on the safe side.”

Jimmy John’s, whose menu contains five sandwiches with alfalfa sprouts, is no longer serving sprouts for the time being, said.

“We have pulled all our sprouts,” said Nicole Peek, manager of Jimmy John’s, 1901 S. Mission St.

William Peek, assistant manager of Jimmy John’s at 117 E. Broadway St., said they stopped serving sprouts several days ago and have posted signs on their doors stating that they are out of alfalfa sprouts.

“We just want to give people the heads up,” William Peek said.

William Peek also said they may be changing to a different supplier of sprouts soon.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re not going to be sure for a couple weeks.”

Pita Pit, 1620 Mission St., is not affected by the salmonella threat, according its co-owner Mike LaPoe.

“We received e-mail confirmation that all of our lots have been checked and we’re good to go,” he said. “If they’d found a problem, we would’ve had to pull them.”

Pita Pit’s alfalfa sprout provider is Sysco Corp.

A case of salmonella usually lasts between four and seven days, beginning with diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection, according to the Center for Disease Control. Most people recover without treatment, but some cases are severe enough to require hospitalization. In these cases, antibiotics are used to treat the illness.

The Detroit News contributed to this report.

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E-mail the author: Emily Pfund