Microbiologists at the Health Protection Agency’s Centre for Infections (CFI) in Colindale have confirmed the link between contaminated bean sprouts and 141 cases of Salmonella Bareilly in the U.K. (The Daily Mail reports the number sickened as of today at 169).

Specialists in the CFI’s Salmonella Reference Unit report that the strain of Salmonella Bareilly isolated from a bean sprout sample is indistinguishable from the strain of S. Bareilly isolated from human samples.

Bean sprouts had already featured strongly in a case control study in which people who had suffered from S. Bareilly infection and controls (people who did not become ill) were questioned about what they had eaten prior to the onset of illness.

However, both the HPA and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) stress that bean sprouts are safe to eat provided that they are washed and cooked until piping hot before consumption or are clearly labelled as ready-to-eat.

Such advice fails to account for potential cross-contamination in home or food service kitchens during preparation.