The sprouts need a humid environment to grow, just like the Salmonella bacteria.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – There is a new salmonella outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts, and this time, it’s the sprouts commercialized by the “Jack and The Green Sprouts” company. US citizens are advised to avoid buying sprouts or salads from this manufacturer until the salmonella outbreak is contained.
While it’s healthy to eat your greens, you should be weary of the greens you buy. Sprouts have increased in popularity in the latest years being labeled as one of the healthiest sources of chlorophyll. But there are a lot of food safety specialists that do not agree with the consumption of sprouts.
The main reason for which the people that have experience with food poisoning cases refuse to eat any kinds of sprouts is because they are cultivated in a humid environment that is also perfect for the development of salmonella.
And not only factory-produced sprouts are dangerous. Farm and even home-grown sprouts have high chances of being infected with the dangerous bacteria. Sometimes the seeds themselves are infected, and they pass the bacteria on to the sprouts.
Rinsing or washing the seeds will not remove the Salmonella bacteria from them. Nor will it do very much good in the case of the sprouts. The CDC warns the citizens that there are certain strains of the bacteria who could survive even the process of cooking.
The FDA recommends the people who bought alfalfa sprouts from “Sweetwater Farms LLC” and “Jack and the Green Sprouts” to thoroughly clean their refrigerators. The Salmonella bacteria can thrive in refrigerator conditions, so even though you threw out the sprouts, your other food could also be compromised.
The best way to clean the refrigerator is by throwing away all the food that might have come in contact with the sprouts and wash the shelves and inside walls. Then you must sanitize the appliance using a solution made out of one chlorine bleach tablespoon added to a gallon of really hot water. After finishing with the sanitizing process you must dry the refrigerator with a clean cloth that was never used before. The cloth and the sponges used in the process will be thrown away.
The salmonella outbreak generated by the infected alfalfa sprouts marketed by Kansas’ “Sweetwater Farms” made 13 people sick, five of which were hospitalized.
The latest outbreak that has the “Jack & The Green Sprouts” company as the source is already responsible for two hospitalizations.
All of the sprouts are being recalled and the US citizens are advised to stop eating the greens altogether, at least for the time being.
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