Beware of Sprouts: by Tom Butzler

By now, most people have heard of the food scare that is going on in Europe where an E. coli outbreak caused illness in nearly 3000 and killed approximately 30 people. This outbreak has potentially been linked to a vegetable crop.


E. coli (short for Escherichia coli) is a bacterium that lives in the gut of humans and other animals. This organism leaves the animal through fecal matter and in most instances is not a problem. There are times where certain strains of E. coli produce a nasty toxin. If this aggressive bacterium gets back into a human body, then serious health issues can follow.


Europe’s food detectives had a tough time with this one as they didn’t know where the source of the E. coli was coming from. At first they thought it was cucumbers then sprouts. They backtracked on the sprouts but came back to them in the end as the most likely source of the problem.

Sprouts contain many health-promoting
phytochemicals but there are some concerns
 with this vegetable as a possible
 bacteria carrier for human diseases.

I find the sprout lead pretty interesting. I eat a lot of vegetables and have had bean sprouts occasionally in certain meals. Sprouts are considered a health food as they are low in calories, fat, and sodium. In addition, they supply fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Sprouts can come from mung, kidney, pinto, navy, and soy beans but also sunflower, broccoli, mustard, radish, garlic, dill, and pumpkin.

Some basic knowledge of sprout production helps with understanding the link between sprouts and E. coli. According to the Penn State publication, “Topics in Food Safety, What You Should Know About Sprouts”, seeds are soaked in water, drained, and spread out in specialized drums or trays that are warm and humid. The seeds are continually irrigated and, depending on the desired level of maturity, are harvested 3 to 10 days after sowing. The sprouts are washed to remove their seed coats and packed into bags or plastic trays.

It is the growing environment that is not only conducive for sprout production but also the bacterium. Even if a few bacteria get into the production cycle, the population explodes in the nutrient rich and environmentally favorable incubator. The bacterium can enter the cycle on seeds but it could also be introduced by a worker’s hands. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) put out a press release in 1999 in which it suggested that people who are high risk for complications from food borne illness should probably not eat raw sprouts.

Lest you think we are immune to the problems occurring in Europe, similar issues have occurred in the US. Just last month, twenty-three people in 10 western states had serious health issues (although caused by a different bacteria than E. coli) linked to alfalfa sprouts. In fact, during the 2010 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, C.C. Chen from the CDC stated that during a 10 year reporting period (1998-2008) in the US, there were 33 outbreaks, with 880 illnesses, 67 hospitalizations, and 1 death that were classified as sprout-associated.