You may (or not) be aware of the controversy raging over the consumption of raw sprouts. Well, not exactly raging, but certainly a concern among food retailers and consumers of raw sprouts. I hate to be a Chicken Little, but I’ve noticed that even my favourite health food store has an article on display above the sprout section, informing customers of the risks involved in eating raw sprouts. It would be unfortunate if we were to find out that we could no longer consume these nutritious and flavourable salad greens.

In the past few years, there have been several major salmonella and E.Coli outbreaks in Canada which were directly linked to a particular brand of alfalfa or radish sprouts, and even more directly to the farm where the seeds originated. Because of this, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has, as recently as March this year, recalled certain brands of alfalfa sprouts. There have been no deaths but the effect of salmonellosis on those in the high risk group can be debilitating.

Because of this, the CFIA, as well as the American FDA have issued risk statements. They both have taken the stand that young children, the elderly and anyone with weak immune systems (i.e. the high risk group), should not eat raw sprouts.

In the meantime, the CFIA is working on a “Code of Practice for the Hygienic Production of Sprouted Seeds.” It is important to recognize that because the source of contamination is primarily the seeds, growing sprouts at home is not a safer alternative. Because of tiny fissures on the seeds, bacterial spores can survive for months until placed into the perfect growing conditions we offer them for sprouting. The only sure way to kill the spores is by proper cooking, and although this may be fine for bean sprouts in a stir-fry, this wouldn’t be very palatable for alfalfa sprouts in a sandwich or salad plate.

The focus for the CFIA is to assure that all seed producers use GAP (Good Agricultural Practices). This includes not only the basic hygienic handling practices involved in handling , harvesting, packaging and transporting both seeds and sprouted seeds, but also a more comprehensive guide for the safe production of the seeds themselves. The proposed code addresses issues such as possible animal and chemical contamination in irrigation water, previous usage of the land, proper treatment of natural fertilizers to rid them of possible pathogens, minimizing soil and debris that may cling to the seeds once they are harvested and reduction of soil contamination of all equipment used anywhere in the preparation of the seeds. Although these steps may reduce the chances of pathogens remaining on the seeds, there is only one way to ensure that the spores are killed, and that is by heating.