Eating alfalfa sprouts, my mother used to say, was like eating hair. Obviously, she wasn’t a huge fan of the spindly little legume shoots but many people are, and with good reason. Sprouts, particularly alfalfa sprouts, are full of vitamins and other nutrients; health food enthusiasts love them, with one web site even suggesting “Perhaps God is making this highly nutritive food easily available to us?”
They are, along with other types of sprouts, increasingly a source of E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella contamination (as well as several other notable pathogens). Jus
t this past year, there have been at least three significant sprout-related outbreaks of which I am aware. So, what’s the problem?
For sprouts to grow successfully, they require a warm, humid environment. As it happens, so do most pathogens (The Centers for Disease Control describe it most officiously: “…sprouts pose a special risk because the sprouting process is a potent bacterial amplification step that occurs shortly before marketing and consumption”). Complicating the matter further is that the sprouting process actually begins well before the final product even enters the picture. Seeds destined for sprouting must be grown, harvested, processed, and shipped. Contamination with any number of pathogens can occur anywhere along the way. Once the contaminated product ends up at the sprout farm, they’re placed into those ideal pathogen nurturing conditions and 72 hours later – voila! – you’ve got yourself a pathogen-rich source of Vitamin K and calcium (I did say sprouts were nutritious).
There are ways to combat the problem, of course, but they don’t appear to be full-proof. The CDC suggested in 1996 that growers use a chlorine solution to eliminate pathogens but chlorine and organic aren’t exactly compatible. A multi-state outbreak last April occurred despite using such a method. Irradiation has also been shown to virtually eliminate any threats of contamination, but people tend to be suspicious about irradiating anything, so that’s not much of an option, either. Heating the seeds before growing is also effective but tends to destroy the seeds’ ability to germinate which sort of undermines the whole sprout concept all together. Growers, then, rely on continual testing and that generally works, except when it doesn’t.
Adding to the melee, the Food and Drug Administration two months ago noted “There is no step in the production of raw sprouts such as cooking or pasteurization to reduce or eliminate pathogens before consumption. In addition, many sprout producers are unaware that raw sprouts have been the vehicle for foodborne illness.”
Sprouts, those tiny little, simple plants are enormously more complex than they appear. Of course, no amount of chlorine, irradiation, or testing can change the fact they’re like eating hair.
They are, along with other types of sprouts, increasingly a source of E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella contamination (as well as several other notable pathogens). Jus
t this past year, there have been at least three significant sprout-related outbreaks of which I am aware. So, what’s the problem?For sprouts to grow successfully, they require a warm, humid environment. As it happens, so do most pathogens (The Centers for Disease Control describe it most officiously: “…sprouts pose a special risk because the sprouting process is a potent bacterial amplification step that occurs shortly before marketing and consumption”). Complicating the matter further is that the sprouting process actually begins well before the final product even enters the picture. Seeds destined for sprouting must be grown, harvested, processed, and shipped. Contamination with any number of pathogens can occur anywhere along the way. Once the contaminated product ends up at the sprout farm, they’re placed into those ideal pathogen nurturing conditions and 72 hours later – voila! – you’ve got yourself a pathogen-rich source of Vitamin K and calcium (I did say sprouts were nutritious).
There are ways to combat the problem, of course, but they don’t appear to be full-proof. The CDC suggested in 1996 that growers use a chlorine solution to eliminate pathogens but chlorine and organic aren’t exactly compatible. A multi-state outbreak last April occurred despite using such a method. Irradiation has also been shown to virtually eliminate any threats of contamination, but people tend to be suspicious about irradiating anything, so that’s not much of an option, either. Heating the seeds before growing is also effective but tends to destroy the seeds’ ability to germinate which sort of undermines the whole sprout concept all together. Growers, then, rely on continual testing and that generally works, except when it doesn’t.
Adding to the melee, the Food and Drug Administration two months ago noted “There is no step in the production of raw sprouts such as cooking or pasteurization to reduce or eliminate pathogens before consumption. In addition, many sprout producers are unaware that raw sprouts have been the vehicle for foodborne illness.”
Sprouts, those tiny little, simple plants are enormously more complex than they appear. Of course, no amount of chlorine, irradiation, or testing can change the fact they’re like eating hair.
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