Raw sprouts: food safety types won’t eat ‘em

A woman from a U.S. magazine interviewed me this morning about the risks of raw sprouts.

I was sorta nervous because I’ve been out of the media game for a while, but she played to my weaknesses and complimented me by saying I was imminently quotable, so I obliged, even though yesterday I couldn’t remember my phone number (writing allows one to go check things, talking, not so much).

I lost track a couple of times during the interview but she was sympathetic and I would defer by saying, it’s all on the barfblog.com, when I couldn’t remember something.

I did however note that many food service thingies have started using pea sprouts as substitutes for raw alfalfa or mung bean sprouts.

Pea sprouts are not yet widely consumed but I did note, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency launched a recall of pea sprouts because of Listeria contamination back in April, a recall that was expanded in May.

No one has been identified as sick, but I’m sure it will happen.

Here’s a table of over 75 sprout-related outbreaks going back to 1973.

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time