Sprout microbial safety: A reappraisal after a quarter‐century

The World Health Organization estimates that each year one in 10 people worldwide falls ill after eating contaminated food, resulting in 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3000 die. A very small fraction of those illnesses is due to sprouts. Commercial green sprout production began in the early 1970s, but home‐sprouting has been practiced by small numbers of people for a very long time. Twenty‐five years ago, the US Food and Drug Administration investigated 50 reported outbreaks and 2600 cases of foodborne illness associated with contaminated sprouts. Since then, the promulgation of science‐based guidelines has led to laboratory (hold‐and‐release) testing mandates for the green‐sprout industry. Home‐sprouters have become better informed of potential hazards, and they now have safer raw materials and safety‐promoting supplies available to them, and a number of online communities that exchange information rapidly. Safe microgreens (“large sprouts”) production has also grown considerably since then. Data based on more than two decades of surveillance support the thesis that sprouts are not only highly nutritious, but also very safe when responsibly produced. Both the need to select for appropriate seed “genetics” and “phenotype” and the need to test and certify seed supply for both commercial sprouters and home‐sprouters is paramount to serving a more informed and progressive sprouting public (both consumers of commercially sprouted seeds and home‐sprouters). Data based on more than two decades of surveillance support the thesis that sprouts are not only highly nutritious, but also very safe when responsibly produced. Both the need to select for appropriate seed “genetics” and “phenotype” and the need to test and certify seed supply for both commercial sprouters and home‐sprouters is paramount to serving a more informed and progressive sprouting public (both consumers of commercially sprouted seeds and home‐sprouters).