Sixty-three people, including three from Maine, fell ill with salmonella food poisoning traced to a shipment of tainted bean sprouts, the state Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

However, the three Maine patients said they do not believe they consumed the bean sprouts in Maine, according to the CDC.

The three salmonella cases are believed to be part of an outbreak involving at least 63 people from 10 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The majority of those patients appear to have contracted the illness while eating in Massachusetts, Rhode Island or Vermont.

The supplier of the tainted mung bean sprouts, commonly used in Asian food, salads and sandwiches, is Brooklyn, New York-based Wonton Foods Inc., the CDC said. Most of the cases involved sprouts eaten at restaurants.

Of the three Mainers who contracted salmonella, one reported eating sprouts at a buffet restaurant outside the state, and one at an out-of-state conference, Maine CDC Director Dr. Sheila Pinette said.

The third patient from Maine did not recall eating sprouts at all, Pinette said.

“None of the people believe they contracted it here in Maine,” she said.

A person answering the phone at Wonton Foods told The Associated Press that the company had no comment. The company has agreed to stop selling fresh bean sprouts until the source of the poisoning can be determined and eliminated, the CDC said.

The illnesses were reported from the end of September to the beginning of November, according to the CDC. No deaths were reported from this outbreak.

According to the CDC, raw sprouts are a frequent culprit in food-borne illness because of their moist, warm growing conditions. There have been more than 30 outbreaks associated with different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts since the mid-1990s. Federal regulators have warned against eating them at all, advising consumers to always cook them thoroughly and to ask that raw sprouts be left off their plate at restaurants.

Salmonella illness usually develops 12 to 72 hours after infection and can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The illness lasts from four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.