JAMA Unnecessarily Scares Consumers With 'Old News' Incidence of Salmonellosis from Alfalfa Sprouts: By Steve Meyerowitz,
In its January 10th 1999 issue, the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) described two incidences of Salmonella contamination
from alfalfa sprouts that took place in 1995. Many regulations and
industry corrections have taken place since then which have made
sprouts safe. While it is true that alfalfa sprouts pose a risk because
they are not sterilized by cooking, historically, the numbers of
incidents and numbers of people affected by sprout borne salmonellosis
run far below the risk of common foods such as meat, poultry, milk and
eggs.
In its 40 year history, only twelve incidents of bacterial infection in
sprouts have been recorded, and nine of them came from the same seed
source. The contaminated seed was imported from the Netherlands. All
alfalfa seeds since then have been subject to strict scrutiny and
purification by both importers and growers. The sprout industry today
is in full compliance with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FDA has since reclassified
sprouters from 'farmers' to 'food processors.' This designation demands
strict regulation of growers for eliminating potentially infectious
conditions throughout sprout growing and packaging. Currently, growers
use a chlorination process, similar to how the nation's water supplies
are treated. It is approved by the CDC for its safety and
effectiveness. Growers are also researching alternative processes that
could achieve even better purification.
Sprout contamination, however, makes sensational news because:
a) Prior to 1995, the tiny sprout industry was unknown to the CDC and USDA. Its discovery attracted attention.
b) The USDA and CDC took a greater interest in sprouts, because the
growing conditions for seeds are also favorable growing conditions for
bacteria and because as a raw food, sprouts do not benefit from
sterilization by cooking. Common garden vegetable seeds are also
subject to these same risks.
c) Sprouts are also newsworthy because it is a legendary health food.
It is an irony for a health food to be the cause of ill health.
Unlike other industries, such as meat, poultry, and tobacco, the tiny
$250 million dollar sprout industry has no public relations firm or
Washington lobbyists to defend itself. The industry is woefully
ineffective in telling its side of the story.
Balancing The Risks to Public Health
Any infectious outbreak is scary news. But in order to avoid a panic
that propels a problem out of proportion, we must understand its risks
compared with other risks.
According to the USDA, salmonella contamination from foods such as
poultry, meat, eggs and fresh produce sickens 4 million people annually
in the U.S. Only 700 people reported salmonellosis in the two 1995
sprout incidents described in the JAMA article. But the article
estimates that up to 20,000 people were probably affected.
According to the FDA, 93% of all bacterial illnesses from human and
animal pathogens come from meat, poultry and dairy. While fatalities
are rare, in 1995, the same year as the reported sprout cases, the CDC
documented 15 fatalities caused by reactions to foods such as peanuts,
milk, eggs and shellfish. Every year, there are an estimated 9,000
deaths and 81 million illnesses due to unsafe foods. (Wall Street
Journal 8/21/98) There have never been any fatalities from sprouts.
In 1997, Cox Newspapers analyzed a USDA computerized database of meat
and poultry inspection records for 1996 and found 138,593 instances in
which inspectors said food being prepared in packing plants was
"certain" to sicken consumers. The database was obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act.
The risks of contracting salmonellosis from alfalfa sprouts is small
and probably akin to the proverbial analogy "getting hit by a car
crossing the street." But there are greater and more troubling
infection risks threatening consumers today that are not even food
related. According to William Jarvis of the CDC, each year about 2
million people acquire infections while under care in U.S. hospitals
and nearly 90,000 die of them. (Based on a 1998 survey of 265 U.S.
hospitals)
Why Eat Sprouts
Sprouts are a nutritionally concentrated, pesticide-free, locally
grown, fresh produce available year round. The National Cancer
institute and the National Institutes of Health recommend Americans eat
5 vegetable meals each day. With the increasing cost of fresh produce,
the diminishing acreage of farmland, and the greater dependence on
imported produce, sprouted foods from local farmers have become a
viable alternative source of nutritious, affordable mini-vegetables.
The anti-cancer benefits of sprouts were well documented by researchers
at Johns Hopkins University in August of 1997. 'Kitchen gardening' is
also a fun, nutritious way for consumers to garden year round making
families more self-sufficient and saving on the grocery bill.
While the U.S. food and water supply will never be completely free of
harmful bacteria, eating alfalfa sprouts is healthier and statistically
safer than eating meat, dairy, eggs or poultry. Despite the numbers,
most Americans can have confidence that their food supply is safe. To
that end, sprout growers continue to comply with CDC and USDA
regulations to ensure the production of safe, healthy, and delicious
sprouts.
Also available: How to Develop an 'Inner Defense' to Protect against
Contaminated Food and Water. Steve Meyerowitz is the author of Sprouts
the Miracle Food and other books on diet and health. He is not a
commercial sprout grower. January 15, 1999
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