Food safety seems to be very hot topic lately especially with the whole Listeria thing but how effective are food safety communicators in getting the word out to the public? I was struck the other day, when at the grocery store, I had asked a pregnant lady whether or not she was concerned eating the lovely bag of bean sprouts she was holding in her hands. She laughed and replied yeah maybe the bag but not the sprouts. She continued on by saying that sprouts are a healthy choice and are great when mixed into salads, sandwiches, and other like foods. Had I asked this woman the same question regarding raw chicken, nine times out of ten, Salmonella would have been shouted out to the roof top, in an annoying Celine Dion sort of way. It seems to be a lot different when it comes to bean sprouts. So, food safety geek on alert, I decided to survey a number of people at the grocery store, some of my pregnant friends, and family members asking if they were concerned with eating this product. The answer was repeatedly no. A list of outbreaks concerning bean sprouts and food safety information on this topic can be found at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=2&c=6&sc=36&id=865.