Tag Archives: Sprouts

Geese-poop-pathogens-barfing exorcism style: food safety tip #2

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Old man winter is right around the corner and as usual the lovely geese of Manitoba begin their trek south to avoid the ridiculous temperatures of Winnipeg. No I’m not bitter, just a touch cool from my brisk morning rides to work on my scooter. Being jealous of the geese I was reminded this morning about food safety tip number 2. Avoid eating poop. Geese fecal matter or animal fecal matter contain pathogenic organisms such as E. coli and Salmonella. Geese really don’t care where they do their business which means it could be getting into your fruits and vegetables. Studies have also shown that Salmonella can survive in the soil for up 900 days and can also survive in fruits and vegetables (1). Washing your fruits and vegetables at this point will be ineffective.

 I remember when I was a young lad in Edmonton, Alberta performing water quality testing for the triathlon games. The athletes were to use a man-made lake for the swimming portion of the event. The lake was consistently bombarded with E.coli due to the overwhelming number of surrounding geese. If poop can get into the water, it can get into your gardens as well. Foodborne illnesses associated with fruits and vegetables have been increasing. This increase is partly due to higher consumption of such products to satisfy a healthy diet, better reporting, and changes in production practices (2). It is important to think about where your food is coming from (farm-to-fork chain) and the potential sources of contamination, one being animal droppings. As a consumer, there is very little one can accomplish in reducing bacterial loads with certain types of vegetables, one being sprouts for instance. Pathogens can exceed10 7 per gram of sprouts without affecting its appearance (3). It is for this reason that the young, old, immunocomprised, and pregnant women should avoid raw sprouts.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Charpentier, Heribert Hirt. The Dark Side of the Salad: Salmonella typhimurium Overcomes the Innate Immune Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Shows an Endopathogenic Lifestyle

2. Risk Profile on the Microbiological Contamination of Fruits and Vegetables Eaten Raw. Report of the Scientific Committee on Food (adopted on the 24th of April 2002). European Commission, Health and Consumer Protection Directorate- General.

3. Taormina PJ, Beuchat LR, Slusker R. 1999. Infections associated with eating seed sprouts: An international concern. Emerg Infect Dis; 5: 629-634.

 

Sprout producer found their own listeria

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After Listeria monocytogenes was found in their sprouts at a retail store about two months ago, Chang Farms started looking for the pathogen themselves.

And now they’ve found it.

The recalled products are packaged in 10-pound bulk bags and 12-ounce retail plastic bags, labeled under the Chang Farm brand as soy sprouts. The products were distributed to retail stores and wholesalers throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.

Being the first to find a problem in your own product shows a certain degree of food safety culture.

Having a problem twice in two months says something a little different, but they’re moving in the right direction.

The best food producers, processors, retailers and restaurants should go above and beyond the minimal government standards, which, as the company pointed out after the discovery at retail, do not require L. monocytogenes testing for sprouts.

Now, they can tell consumers about the extra control measures they’ve got in place… should they one day have a website.

Salmonella not your fault? Prove it

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The Associated Press reports that certain packages of Kowalke Organics alfalfa spouts are being recalled due to possible salmonella contamination.

The California Department of Public Health said the packages were mostly distributed at Gelson’s and Whole Foods grocery stores in Southern California. According to Kowalke’s owner, Mike Matthews, only one package purchased in a store as part of a "secret shopping" investigation by state agents tested positive for salmonella, and it had a sell-by date of June 21.

The health officials "looked at our paperwork and we’re 100 percent clean. The test we have for that batch was negative," Matthews said. "Since we know it was clean when it left our truck, the only way that it could have happened was in cross-contamination down the line in the store."

Officials disagreed with that deduction—and solitary test result (which came from a sample on Kowalke’s premises, according to Matthews, and not on the truck)—and recommended a recall of all of Kowalke’s sprouts with sell-by dates from June 18 to June 30. Public health spokesman Al Lundeen said most sprout contamination comes from seeds, so all the products that were grown from that seed lot should be recalled.

Cross-contamination at retail is certainly a possibility. I’d be more apt to believe it, though, if I knew more about the testing procedure, and perhaps found out that more than one sample was tested per batch. With the limited information Matthews has provided, I have to agree with the health officials’ recommendation to issue a broader recall.

If you’ve got a food safety plan in place, tell the public about it—all of it. The public can always handle more information about food safety, not less.
 

Sprout farm to begin testing for listeria

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Close to 15,000 pounds of Chang Farm bean and soy sprouts were recalled from retailers and restaurants in four northeastern states last week after Listeria monocytogenes was found in a bag of sprouts at a retail store.

Speaking for the company, Sidney Chang said,

"We followed FDA guidelines to test for salmonella and E. coli 0517:H7. We don’t test for listeria, because they don’t require that."

So?

It is consumers who ultimately decide which food companies stay in business and make a profit, and consumers demand food that is free of all pathogens.

Is Chang Farm willing to step it up?

As stated in an article by The Packer,

“We want to make sure our facility is safe," Chang said. "We’re going to add more measures. We thought we were doing the right things.”

FDA finds seed supplier of sprouts with Salmonella

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Cases of Salmonella Saintpaul linked to raw alfalfa sprouts are now up to 35 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration thinks they can all be traced to one seed supplier.

That seed supplier, based in Kentucky, is voluntarily withdrawing from the market all of its 50-pound bags that have a lot code starting with “032.” All of these bags contain seeds from Italy and may be contaminated.

In addition to details about the withdrawn sprouts, the FDA alert states,

“FDA has no evidence that alfalfa seeds from other lots, or sprouts grown from them, are affected by this market withdrawal… Suppliers who can verify that their products were not sourced from the affected lots may wish to notify their customers; likewise, retailers, restaurateurs, and food-service facilities who have verified the sources of their alfalfa products may wish to notify their customers.”

Businesses that can prove they get food from safe sources on purpose—and didn’t just get lucky with this one—should brag about that, too.
 

FDA issues warning after 31 sick with Salmonella linked to sprouts

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Maybe the folks at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are busy with swine flu, but the timing of the latest raw sprouts advisory is a bit wonky.

Oh, and I’m to stress that it is only alfalfa sprouts making people barf, or at least that’s what industry told the FDA during a conference call yesterday afternoon. Not sure why it took FDA over 24 additional hours to warn consumers but …

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today recommended that consumers not eat raw alfalfa sprouts, including sprout blends containing alfalfa sprouts, until further notice because the product has been linked to Salmonella serotype Saintpaul contamination.

Other types of sprouts have not been implicated at this time.???  ???The investigation indicates that the problem may be linked to contamination of seeds for alfalfa sprouts. Because suspect lots of seeds may be sold around the country and may account for a large proportion of the alfalfa seeds currently being used by sprout growers, and cases of illness are spread across multiple states, FDA and CDC are issuing this general advisory.??????

FDA will work with the alfalfa sprout industry to help identify which seeds and alfalfa sprouts are not connected with this contamination, so that this advisory can be changed as quickly as possible.

CDC, FDA and six State and local authorities have associated this outbreak with eating raw alfalfa sprouts. Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia have reported 31 cases of illness with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul to CDC. Most of those who became ill reported eating raw alfalfa sprouts.  Some reported eating raw sprouts at restaurants; others reported purchasing the raw sprouts at the retail level.

The CDC and FDA recommend at all times that persons at high risk for complications, such as the elderly, young children, and those with compromised immune systems, not eat raw sprouts because of the risk of contamination with Salmonella or other bacteria.

Chapman updated our chart of sprout-related outbreaks. It’s available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=2&c=6&sc=36&id=865
 

Michigan salmonella outbreak tied to alfalfa sprouts

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This is Amy making a face in Guelph in 2005 after being served raw pea sprouts when she specifically said, no sprouts. At a local Manhattan (Kansas) restaurant, we’re known as the ‘no sprouts’ people.

And now, sprouts are in the news again for making people barf.

The Michigan Department of Community Health is telling people to avoid alfalfa sprouts after an outbreak of salmonella sent two people to the hospital and sickened 14 others in southeast Michigan.

For the most part, people got infected from sprouts in sandwiches, but the origin of the sprouts is not yet known, MDCH officials said in a statement. The illnesses mostly occurred between March 23 and April 6.

This same salmonella caused a recall of alfalfa (sprouts) in the Midwest earlier this year.
 

Midwest sprouts-linked outbreak up to 76 confirmed cases of salmonellosis

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KGAN reports that the outbreak linked to SunSprout Enterprises is now at 76 confirmed cases in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas (Missouri is missing from the list — although has been mentioned by other sources).

Health officials have confirmed at least 76 cases of salmonella in four states as part of an outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts.

Cases of salmonella in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota have been tied to SunSprout Enterprises’ sprouts that were distributed to grocery stores and restaurants.

The Omaha company voluntarily recalled its products. Shipments were resumed after an inspection found no cause of salmonella.

Nebraska health officials say at least 45 cases of Salmonella saintpaul have been confirmed near Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney.

Iowa officials confirmed 21 cases. South Dakota and Kansas officials have both confirmed at least five cases in their states.

A selection of past sprouts-related outbreaks can be found here.

Sprouts linked to Nebraska Salmonella cases

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WOWT TV in Omaha and AP are reporting that an outbreak of Salmonella in Nebraska has been linked to a local fresh sprouts producer.

Nebraska Health and Human Services says the initial testing links the outbreak to source-alfalfa sprouts from a local grower, CW Sprouts in Omaha.

Public health workers have been interviewing individuals involved in the outbreak, as well as people in a control group that helps interviewers determine the food source. The interviews led epidemiologists to conclude that sprouts were reported in a high number of food histories of ill people, thus there was a strong association with sprouts.

Nebraska’s chief medical officer Joann Schaefer held a press conference Tuesday releasing the following information:

– As of Tuesday, the state health department had confirmed 14 cases of Salmonella in Nebraska.

– The cases were reported from Feb. 2 to Feb. 23.

And in a great example of good communication, the health authorities said that there really wasn’t much a consumer could do once they had the product (other than cook it):

While the health department recommended consumers wash all fruits and vegetables before consumption, Schaefer acknowledged that doing so likely would not have prevented the most recent outbreak.  Schaefer said officials believe the salmonella was probably within the alfalfa sprouts, and therefore, could not be washed off. 

"The company does all sorts of washing procedures in its plant," Schaefer said. "It’s state of the art. It’s probably one of the cleanest facilities we’ve seen."

A clean facility doesn’t do a whole lot if the seeds come in contaminated. The warm and humid environment that sprouting plants grow in provide a fantastic situation for pathogens to thrive. Pathogens have been shown to attach and survive within the layers of the sprout, making washing virtually useless.

Sprouts have often been linked to foodborne illness, with the FDA issuing a standing risk advisory in 1999, updated in 2002, on raw and lightly cooked sprouts:

The FDA offers the following advice to all consumers concerning sprouts:

  • Cook all sprouts thoroughly before eating to significantly reduce the risk of illness.
  • Sandwiches and salads purchased at restaurants and delicatessens often contain raw sprouts. Consumers who wish to reduce their risk of foodborne illness should specifically request that raw sprouts not be added to their food.
  • Homegrown sprouts also present a health risk if eaten raw or lightly cooked. Many outbreaks have been attributed to contaminated seed. If pathogenic bacteria are present in or on seed, they can grow to high levels during sprouting even under clean conditions.

A selection of past sprouts-related outbreaks can be found here.

Salmonella on sprouts in California

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The California Department of Public Health said Friday that two California companies are recalling alfalfa sprouts sold across the West because tests detected salmonella, although no illnesses have been reported.

J.H. Caldwell and Sons of Maywood is recalling Always Fresh and Alfa One sprouts distributed to Trader Joes grocery stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. It also is recalling shipments to Beach Market, KV Mart and Superior Warehouse stores in California.

Salad Cosmo USA Corporation of Dixon is recalling sprouts distributed to stores in California and Washington, including SaveMart Supermarkets.

Salad Cosmo recalled the same product last May.

Consumers with questions may contact Salad Cosmo USA Corp. at (707) 678-6633 and J.H. Caldwell and Sons Inc. at (323) 589-4008.

A table of sprout-related outbreaks is available at:
http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=2&c=6&sc=36&id=867

Sprouts have been problematic over the years. Amy, below, doesn’t eat them raw anymore. I never did.