Miscellaneous Sprout Safety Research

Welcome! This is our grab-bag collection of sprout food safety information. We have amassed helpful sprout safety research covering a wide variety of sprout food safety topics.

“Adhesion and Control of Human Pathogens to and on Surfaces (Part B: Produce)”, Mandrell RE, Charkowski AO, Cooley MB, Friedman M, Gorski L, Kint S, Miller WG, Agricultural Research Service, Food Safety and Health Unit, WRRC, Albany, CA., National Program 108, Food Safety Progress Report 2001, Section 10: Produce and Animal Manure, CRIS: 5325-42000-022.

“Comparison of the stress response of Listeria monocytogenes strains with sprout colonization”, J Food Prot. 2008 Aug;71(8):1556-62, Gorski L, Flaherty D, Duhé JM., U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, California 94710, USA.

“Effects of acid adaptation on the survival of Listeria monocytogenes on modified atmosphere packaged vegetables”, Gillian A. Francis* & David O’Beirne, International Journal of Food Science & Technology
Volume 36 Issue 5 Page 477  – June 2001, doi:10.1046/j.1365-2621.2001.00489.x

“Effect of Canavanine from Alfalfa Seeds on the Population Biology of Bacillus cereus”Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Dec. 1998, p. 4683-4688 Vol. 64, No. 12, Elizabeth A. B. Emmert, Jocelyn L. Milner, Julie C. Lee, Kristie L. Pulvermacher, Heidi A. Olivares, Jon Clardy, Joe Handelsman.

“Food as a Vehicle for Transmission of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia col”Journal of Food Protection®, Volume 70, Number 10, October 2007 , pp. 2426-2449(24), Erickson, Marilyn C.; Doyle, Michael P.

“Food Safety Risk Profile for Primary Industries in South Australia”, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, 2002, Sumner, J., 2002, Department of Primary Resources SA, Adelaide.

“Food service systems: comparison of production methods and storage times for alfalfa sprouts”, Sawyer, C. A., A. K. Devitto, and M. E. Zabik., 1985. J. Food Sci. 50 : 188-191.

“Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid residues in mung bean sprouts.”, J Assoc Off Anal Chem 1982 Sep;65(5):1118-21, Wong YS.

“Guidelines for the hygienic manufacture and retail sale of sprouted seeds with particular reference to mung beans” 1989. CCFRA Technical Manual No. 25, Campden Food and Drink Research Association. Chipping Camden, United Kingdom, K.L Brown & C.A. Oscroft.

“Influence of relative humidity, temperature and sanitizer treatment in inactivating Escherichia coli O157:H7 on radish seeds.” Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Jun 30, 2008, Jihyun Bang, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Hoikyung Kim, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Youngjun Lee, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Jee-Hoon Ryu, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

“Interventions to Ensure the Microbial Safety of Sprouts” by William F. Fett, Chapter 8 of Microbiology of Fruits and Vegetables edited by Gerald M. Sapers, James R. Gorny and Ahmed E. Yoursef,  2006.

“Isolation and Characterization of Nisin-producing Lactococcus Lactis subsp. lactis from Bean-Sprouts”,  J Appl Microbiol 1997 Oct;83(4):499-507, Cai Y, Ng LK, Farber JM., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

“Isolation of Salmonella from Alfalfa Seed and Demonstration of Impaired Growth of Heat-Injured Cells in Seed Homogenates”, Ching-Hsing Liao, William F. Fett, Journal Of Food Protection, Publication Request Approval Date: December 5, 2001, Publication Date: N/A, Publisher’s URL: JFP 64: 1110-1115 (2001)/INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD MICROBIOLOGY 82 (2003) 245-253.

“Microbiological quality of fresh fruit and vegetable products in Catalonia (Spain) using normalised plate-counting methods and real time polymerase chain reaction (QPCR)” Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Volume 88, Issue 4, Date: March 2008, Pages: 605-611. Esther Badosa, Rosalia Trias, Dolors Parés, Maria Pla, Emilio Montesinos

“Microbiological Safety of Sprouted Seeds: Current Status and Future Directions”PowerPoint presentation by Keith Warriner, Department of Food Science, University of Guelph. (This is 1.9MB and may take a few moments to open)

“Moulds and Yeasts in Fresh and Minimally Processed Vegetables, and Sprouts” Int J Food Microbiol. 2005 Mar 1;99(1):71-7. Tournas VH. Division of Natural Products, Food and Drug Administration, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740, USA.

“Percent moisture and seed coat characteristics of alfalfa seeds after artificial inoculation” Kathleen T. Rajkowski, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA 19038.

“Qualitative Risk Assessment of Seeds/Beans and Sprouted Seeds/Beans” Health Canada, May 2001.

“Questions keep sprouting about sprouts.”, FDA Consum 1999 Jan-Feb;33(1):18-22, Kurtzweil P

“Residues of five pesticides in field-treated alfalfa seeds and alfalfa sprouts”, J Environ Sci Health B. 1985 Aug;20(4):445-56. Archer TE, Gauer WO.

Risk of Food Poisoning Due to the Presence of Human Pathogens in Sprouted Seeds, Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London, England WC2B 6NH, 24 January 2004.

“Risks Associated With The Consumption of Fresh Sprouts”, Sylvanus Thompson and D.A. Powell, Food Safety Network Technical Report # 16, July, 2000.

“The role of cellulose and O-antigen capsule in the colonization of plants by Salmonella enterica” Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 2007 Sep;20(9):1083-91. Barak JD, Jahn CE, Gibson DL, Charkowski AO. Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Albany, CA 94710, USA.

“Seed Physiology, Seedling Performance, and Seed Sprouting”. pp. 961-979. Bass, L.N., Gunn, C.R., Hesterman, O.B., and Roos, E.E. 1988. In Hanson, A.A., Barnes, D.K., and Hill Jr., R.R.(ed.) Alfalfa and Alfalfa Improvement. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Madison, Wisconsin.

“Seed sprout production for human consumption – A review” T.V. Price 1988 Can. Inst. Sood Sci. Technol. 21:57-65

“Seed Sprouts: the State of the Microbiological Safety”, William F. Fett, Tong-Jen Fu, and Mary Lou Tortorello, Chapter 6 of Microbiology of Fresh Produce, pp 167-219.  Edited by Karl R. Matthews, 2006, ASM Press, Washington, D.C.

For more research, see our Links Page and Nutrition of Sprouts.