Friday I had to grab a quick lunch, so I joined a colleague at the “UQ Refec” (University of Queensland – that’s in Australia – food court in American lingo) to buy a sandwich. She had one in hand within a few seconds while I picked over the containers. The delicious looking wraps all had sprouts. Some were labeled with all ingredients, including alfalfa, but some were simply called Chicken and Salad and still contained sprouts. I rejected a chicken caesar sandwich because it cost $2 more for the same amount of food. While frantically trying to make a decision, I attempted to explain, in French, the dangers of sprouts and my decision not to eat them. I do enjoy the taste, but there are just too many people getting sick.

Finally, I settled on a sliced roast pork, shaved carrots and cucumber sandwich. It, too, was $2 more but sprout-free. Apparently gourmet means no sprout filler.

We returned to our office to discuss work over lunch. I cracked open my sandwich only to realize it was made on chia seed bread. At least the bread was cooked.

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