In December 2013, local and state public health and agriculture agencies in Kansas investigated a large outbreak of norovirus associated with a Jimmy John's restaurant located at 501 East Kansas Avenue in Garden City, Kansas.

A total of 402 individuals were either interviewed by Finney County Health Department staff or completed an online survey. Of those, 216 met the outbreak case definition. Two people were hospitalized. No one died. Three stool specimens were positive for norovirus. Meal dates ranged from December 10 to December 23. Tomato and hot peppers were sandwich ingredients that were statistically associated with illness.

During a December 18 inspection, three critical violations were identified: 1) Improper cooling of shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes, 2) Improper storage of shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes, and 3) Dirty food contact surfaces. Temperatures of the sliced tomatoes and the shredded lettuce were 47.0°F and 55.6°F respectively. These items were voluntarily destroyed by the manager and all other violations were corrected onsite.

Interviews with Jimmy John’s employees revealed that four of the employees had missed work during the week before the Kansas Department of Agriculture inspection on December 18 due to gastrointestinal illness