Why Alfalfa Sprouts Are Still Safe And Healthy: By Steve Meyerowitz, author of Sprouts the Miracle Food
In it's January 1999 issue, the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA) describes two incidences of Salmonella contamination
from alfalfa sprouts that took place in 1995. A few comments follow.
These were the first such incidents in the (then) 35 year history of the sprout industry. There were no fatalities.
Both incidents were traced to a single source of contaminated seed imported from the Netherlands.
All alfalfa seeds since 1995 have been subject to strict scrutiny and
purification. The sprout industry today is in full compliance with the
CDC and USDA.
Sprout contamination makes sensational news for the following reasons.
a) Prior to 1995, the tiny sprout industry was virtually unknown to the
Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA). It attracted great attention because it was new and
undiscovered.
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.
c) Sprouts are famous as legendary health foods. The incidence of
salmonella is especially newsworthy because of the irony of a health
food causing 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. Thus, the public only knows a
small part of the story.
The risk factor for contracting salmonella from eating sprouts is far less than that of other common foods.
According to the U.S.D.A., each year, salmonella contamination from
foods such as poultry, meat, eggs and fresh produce sickens 4 million
people annually in the U.S. The two 1995 sprout incidents reached an
estimated 20,000.
According to the FDA, 93% of all bacterial illnesses from human and
animal pathogens come from meat, poultry and dairy. In 1995, 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)
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.
Our food supply is not the only source of bacterial infection. Each
year, about 2 million people acquire infections while under care in
U.S. hospitals and nearly 90,000 die of them, according William Jarvis
of the CDC. (Based on a 1998 survey of 265 U.S. hospitals).
Sprouts are a nutritionally concentrated, pesticide-free, locally
grown, fresh produce available year round. It is easily available to
populations where fresh foods distribution is too expensive or
impractical.
Eating alfalfa sprouts is statistically safer and healthier than eating
meat, dairy or poultry. The U.S. food and water supply will never be
free of harmful bacteria. Nevertheless, most Americans have confidence
that their food is safe. Sprout growers are working closely with the
CDC and USDA to produce safe, healthy, and delicious sprouts.
Sproutman Publications. PO Box 1100. Great Barrington, MA 01230. 413-528-5200x4. Fax 413-528-5201.
Sproutman@Sproutman.com Or go to Sproutman.com
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