Re: Sprouting seeds and E. coli

Allan!!!  You should encourage Pamela to post more often.  She writes as
well as you.  ;-)

Steve  (Maritime...)



Allan Day wrote:
> 
> On Fri 29 Jan, Pesznecker, Sue wrote:
> >
> > I have been hearing a lot lately about sprouts being contaminated with E.
> > coli and thereby being potentially dangerous.  And this isn't limited to the
> > sprouts that you purchase at the grocery.  Apparently the E. coli is present
> > on the seed itself, so even seeds that you buy yourself and sprout at home
> > can be infected with the bacteria.
> >
> > Along those lines, I heard something about how seeds could be treated by
> > briefly soaking in a very weak bleach solution.  Unfortunately it was one of
> > those things that ran by and was gone before I could listen hard enough to
> > get the specifics.
> >
> > Has anyone heard about this?  Any suggestions?
> >
> > Sue P.
> I have not heard of E.coli in this situation before but anything is
> possible and E.coli is an ubiquitous organism and there are many strains
> about which can be identified in the laboratory, some more virilant than
> most. The recent outbreak in Scotland was most unusual in its virilance.
> When I started work in the food industry (44yrs ago) we used to test for
> the presence of E.coli in processed foods and water supplies as an
> indicator of contamination. If you wish to wash your dried seeds before
> germination I suggest you use a mild anti-bacterial solution such as
> that used for sterilising babies' bottles. I believe that there are
> products on the market for washing salad leaves and fruit which I would
> use if camping/self catering on the continent to avoid 'gippy'-tummy. I
> am sure they would be fine for your purpose.
> 
> Pamela Day>
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Allan Day  Hereford HR2 7AU allan@crwys.demon.co.uk
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