The Atlantic was once a semi-respected magazine worth perusing, but has lately been diving to the food-news gutter faster than Dr. Oz.

After too many stories on the electronic version with snappy headlines but little content, The Atlantic fully jumped the shark with its piece on the virtues of sprouts.

Besides the usual gush about how sprouting awakens a life force within the seeds – and yes, there are chemical changes that happen during sprouting that may provide nutritional benefit – one holistic expert said raw sprouts were great for at-home cleansing.

The brief does note that seed source is a key component for safe sprouts, but fails to mention any potential risks.

A table of sprout-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/sprouts-associated-outbreaks.