COOKING SPROUTS TO MAKE THEM SAFER

Authorities in an increasing number of countries are coming out with the same warning: don't eat sprouted seeds raw. That applies to not just alfalfa, bean sprouts and other legume seeds, but also sprouted grain seeds and others such as mustard, radish, broccoli, sesame, fenugreek, and more.

Throughout the years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has repeatedly warned people at high risk not to eat sprouted seeds raw, and at times (as in 2009) elevated this warning to include everyone. The German government now has a similar warning out. The British FSA issued a revised and strengthened warning yesterday: "As a precaution, the Agency is advising that sprouted seeds should only be eaten if they have been cooked thoroughly until steaming hot throughout; they should not be eaten raw."

Sprouted seeds have been recognized as unsafe for decades because of the fact that they commonly carry disease-causing bacteria. Very few people in public health eat them raw for that reason. What has got governments particularly concerned is the recent huge and deadly German outbreak of a very rare and super-toxic strain of E.coli linked to bean sprouts. Now there is a much smaller outbreak of deadly E.coli in a suburb of Bordeaux in Germany, that is also being blamed on contaminated sprouted seeds. A less toxic E.coli was found in beet sprouts in the Netherlands earlier in June of this year. In the United States there are regular outbreaks linked to sprouted seeds, usually alfalfa, and most often, of Salmonella bacteria. In fact there were outbreaks in January, February, March and April of this year (see post of June 5).

Cooking would destroy most of these bacteria. But let's face it, sprouted seeds don't always taste as pleasant when cooked, and no longer add a decorative touch to food. I searched for ideas and recipes on line to see if there was any way to make cooked sprouted seeds appealing. Clearly some kinds of sprouts lend themselves to cooking better than others. Here are some ideas: azuki bean sprouts cooked in chili, cooked mung bean sprouts in miso soup, mung bean or alfalfa sprouts cooked in stir-fried vegetables, alfalfa sprouts cooked mixed in with sauteed potatoes, lentil sprouts cooked in lentil soup or lentil salad, garbanzo bean sprouts or soybean sprouts cooked in soup, alfalfa sprouts in baked goods.

Some recipes suggest very light cooking of the sprouted seeds: adding sprouts to a dish at the very last minute, and cooking for no more than 30 seconds. The results might be better from a taste, texture and visual appeal perspective, but such quick cooking may not always bring the sprouts to the temperature required to kill bacteria (165 degrees F), particularly if the dish is not stirred well. Note the above warning of the British FSA refers to thorough cooking "until they are steaming hot."

To your good health,

TSF

COULD E.COLI CONTAMINATED SEEDS BE IN THE U.S.?

The latest hot topic in our global food supply is the recent outbreak of E.coli food poisoning in a suburb of Bordeaux, France. There is fear that it is linked to the recent huge outbreak of super-toxic E.coli in northern Germany that originated in bean sprouts. According to French investigators and officials, the cause here is also raw sprouts. And, the seeds used by the French sprout grower came from a venerable British seed company, Thompson & Morgan, which has been around for more than a hundred and fifty years (and has a wonderful blog - tmseeds.blogspot.com with all kinds of useful advice).

According to Wikepedia this company distributes its catalogues not just in the UK, and France, but also in Germany - and in the U.S. These catalogues are available through mail or can be requested directly from the company by telephone or via their websites. The New York Times also reported today that their seeds are sold in the U.S. I do buy vegetable seeds, but do not recall ever purchasing any of their so can't say for sure.

Again IF this company is the source of the French outbreak (and maybe even the German one - and no one knows yet), and IF an outbreak in sprouted seeds also occurs in the U.S. (which I hope doesn't), it wouldn't be the first one we have had from imported sprout seeds. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) describes two sprout contamination incidents that occurred in the U.S. in 1995, both eventually traced to seeds imported from the Netherlands. There have been others.

Let's hope it's just another case of "Round up the usual suspects" (as in that memorable line from Casablanca) and it turns out in the end to be something the gazpacho cook did, which doesn't have international repercussions.

To your good health!
TSF