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. 

The Shanghai Daily reports growers of tainted bean sprouts in Shanghai's Qingpu District have been detained, local authorities said yesterday.



Shanghai Food and Drug Administration said the bean sprouts found in unlicensed premises in thesites/default/files/amy_sprouts_guelph_05(24).jpgXianghuaqiao residential community contained illegal additives.
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Officials gave no further details of what kind of additives they were and it was not known whether they were toxic or added in excessive amounts. 

All the contaminated bean sprouts have been destroyed and several suspects detained after local authorities acted on a tip-off from a resident.

The Packer, the produce trade journal always on the cutting edge, has decided after 55 outbreaks in 14 years sickening about 15,000 and killing dozens, that sprouts may be too risky to serve.

Referring to the Jimmy John’s sprout outbreaks, the editorial says a year ago, an Oregon epidemiologist said clover sprouts were no safer than alfalfa and predicted a rise in clover sprout outbreaks if Jimmy John’s switched.

Unfortunately, he was right.

Last month, a rival chain, Jason’s Deli, announced it would drop sprouts from all 230 of its restaurants later this year in response to food safety concerns over the item. Wal-Mart reportedly dropped sprouts from its offerings nationwide late in 2010 because of food safety concerns.

Companies that sell or serve them to consumers know the risks, and more every month are deciding the risk isn’t worth it.

In what could be shaping up as another wow-you-won’t-believe-what inspectors-found-once-they-looked – as in Peanut Corp. of America, DeCoster eggs, Tiny Green sprouts, Bravo Farms cheese – the recall of “Let’s Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts last week because of a positive salmonella sample has been expanded because a separate test has found listeria in product.

Green Valley Food Corp. is recalling approximately 35,159 cases of a variety of products because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Random samples tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes.

The company is still yelling in ALL CAPS and writing in a dialect that would be foreign to a Texan: “Till this present day there has bee no related illnesses CONFIRMED because of this recall.”

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

The items affected in the recall are as follows , which includes all items from the original press release from 12/23/2011:

• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Alfalfa Sprouts 5 oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722228818
• Let"s Grow Healthy Together!” Spicy Sprouts 5 oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722229914
• Alfalfa Sprouts 4oz. plastic security sealed clamshell UPC number 815098001088
• Green Valley Food Corp.” Onion Sprouts” 4oz. plastic security sealed clamshell UPC number 815098002054
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Sunflower Greens 5 oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722206069
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Clover Sprouts 5 oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722225510
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Onion Sprouts 2 oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722227712
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Zesty Sprouts 5 oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722221116
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Organic Wheat Grass 6oz. plastic 2 piece containers with the UPC number 714722608122
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Mung Bean Sprouts 8oz. red polypropylene bag with the UPC number 815098001071
• Let's Grow Healthy Together!” Mung Bean Sprouts 16 oz. clear polypropylene bag with a green label, the UPC number 714722208162
• &Green Valley Food Corp. Spicy Sprouts 4 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with the UPC number 815098002023
• Green Valley Food Corp.” Snow Pea Shoots 3 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with the UPC number 714722106062
• “Green Valley Food Corp.” Organic Wheatgrass 4 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with UPC number 714722608122
• Green Valley Food Corp.” Daikon Sprouts 3 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with UPC number 714722206076
• Broccosprouts” Sandwich Blend 4 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with UPC number 815098000289
• Broccosprouts” Salad Blend 4 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with UPC number 815098000265
• Broccosprouts” Deli Blend 4 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with the UPC number 815098000272
• Broccosprouts” Broccoli Sprouts 4 oz. plastic security sealed clamshell containers with UPC number 815098000258

The sprouts affected in this recall were distributed via truck deliveries to all customers in Texas. Our customers consist on grocery store distribution centers and food service customers.