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Why I don’t buy Sprouts, and why you shouldn’t either.

By Linda Eckhardt on May 9, 2012

Yet again, there’s a big recall of alfalfa sprouts possibly contaminated with Listeria monocygogenes.

sprouts, healthy when home grown

Zounds. How many times to we have to hear this?

from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The FDA reports on 05-04-12

Cleveland Beansprouts Co. of Cleveland, OH is recalling all alfalfa sprouts because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (May 4, 2012) – Cleveland Beansprouts Co. of Cleveland, OH is recalling all alfalfa sprouts because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections to individuals with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

All alfalfa sprouts produced by Cleveland Beansprouts are being recalled. There are no lot codes or any other identifier on the product. The alfalfa sprouts were only distributed in Ohio.

The contamination was discovered by the Ohio Department of Agriculture while collecting and testing samples under the United States Department of Agriculture’s Microbiological Data Program. No illnesses have been reported to date.

Consumers who have purchased alfalfa sprouts produced by Cleveland Beansprouts should discard them.

Linda Eckhardt comments:

How many times do we have to hear this? Sprouts, which are grown in warm, dark, damp places provide the ideal growing medium for pathogens. This time it’s listeria. Other times, its something else.

yummy sprouts made into a salad

This is why I NEVER buy sprouts in a grocery store and I don’t eat them in restaurants. You gotta have sprouts? Learn to do your own sprouting. It’s safer.

To learn how to sprout your own: http://rawfoodswitch.com/raw-food-equipment-reviews/sprouting-guide-sprout-seeds-bean-sprouts/

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About Linda Eckhardt

Linda West Eckhardt, is an award winning journalist, food writer, and nutritionist. Her more than 20 cookbooks have garnered prizes including the James Beard prize for the best cookbook for a text she wrote with her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, entitled Entertaining 101, Doubleday. Their follow-up book, Stylish One Dish Dinners, Doubleday, was also nominated for a James Beard prize. Their next book, The High Protein Cookbook, Clarkson Potter, remains a best seller after 12 years. That book was designed to accompany low carb diet plans. Her ground-breaking book, Bread in Half The Time, Broadway Books, was named the Best Cookbook in America by the prestigious IACP, The Julia Child award. Her award winning radio work with Jennifer English, for a national show on the Food and Wine radio network, was nominated for a James Beard Prize for a show called, “I Know What You Ate Last Summer.”