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Alfalfa sprouts bear high salmonella risk, researchers report CHICAGO (January 12, 1999 3:26 p.m. EST <http://www.nandotimes.com>) - Food poisoning outbreaks in the United States and Europe show alfalfa sprouts are an inherent and high-risk source of salmonella infections, researchers said in a report published Tuesday. "Until barriers to a pathogen-free seed are resolved we conclude that alfalfa sprouts are a high-risk food for salmonellosis. All consumers, particularly those at greatest risk for severe disease (immunosuppressed, elderly and very young people) should consider this danger when deciding whether to eat alfalfa sprouts," the report said. "The fundamental problem is that the (commercial) sprouting process contains no 'kill step' that would eliminate pathogens without compromising a seed's germination potential," said the study from the State of Oregon Health Division and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The authors of the study speculated that salmonella organisms reside in seed crevices between the cotyledon and testa, an area that chemical treatments do not penetrate. Seeds are often stored for months or years under cool, dry conditions in which salmonella bacteria are stable. During the three to five-day sprouting period the bacteria can increase in number three to four times, the report said. "From farm to table, many opportunities exist for contamination of alfalfa seeds or sprouts. Crops can be easily contaminated with dirty water, runoff form adjacent farms, animal fertilisers used in previous growing seasons or droppings from rodents or ruminants," it added. The study, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, was based on a look at alfalfa sprout salmonella outbreaks in 1995-96 in Oregon and British Columbia, and a similar incident in Denmark in 1995. In North America, the report said, more than 20,000 people contracted salmonella infections from alfalfa sprouts in 1995. Salmonella infections typically cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain and, in severe cases, muscle paralysis, shock and collapse. Copyright 1999 Nando Media Copyright 1999 Reuters News Service <http://www.nandotimes.com/noframes/story/0,2107,7060-12216-85033-0,00.html> janet paterson - 51 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada <http://www.newcountry.nu/pd/members/janet/index.htm> [log in to unmask]