How to Eat Sprouts Safely
added 02/06/08
by Mary S. Choate, M.S., R.D., L.D.
People who wish to reduce the risk of foodborne illness should not consume raw sprouts. All raw sprouts, including alfalfa, clover, radish, and others, are considered to pose a risk. This advice is particularly important for persons at high risk of developing serious illness due to foodborne disease, such as children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.
The Food and Drug Administration offers the following advice to all consumers concerning sprouts:
- Cook sprouts. This significantly reduces the risk of illness.
- Check purchased sandwiches and salads. These often contain raw sprouts. Note: the Co-p no longer offers sprouts on our sandwiches and salads.
- Sprouts grown in the home also present a risk if eaten raw.
- All sprouts should be kept at temperatures below 40ºF.F.
- Buy only sprouts kept at refrigerator temperature. Select crisp-looking sprouts with the buds attached. Avoid musty-smelling, dark, or slimy-looking sprouts.
- Wash hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw foods.
- Rinse sprouts thoroughly with water before use. Rinsing can help remove surface dirt. Do not use soap or other detergents.
For more information, please email us.
Familiar With the Co-op's Communications Department?
If you have ever seen a Co-op sign or display, then you’ve seen the work of Art Director Katie Cahill. Katie and the Co-op Communications Department is responsible for promoting the cooperative difference showcased by the quality work our employees do each day. Didn’t think you’d find an Art Director at a food cooperative? Who can blame you! Sure, we have all the food departments you have come to expect in a food co-op. But there are a wide variety of other departments that help run our cooperative too — with people who are consumer-education and information experts, accountants, writers, graphic artists, computer nerds, MBAs, and environmental-sustainability gurus, just to name a few.
Meet Patrick Kearney
The Co-op is full of folks like Patrick. He’s smart, free-spirited, bounced around a lot in his day, and ended up liking the Co-op so much that it made him settle down a little.
