This is an important development.
Food Poisoning, often from animal sources via vegetables, is now being taken very seriously in the USA, the sources of poisoning are more carefully tracked and the results published promptly, however inconvenient.
It seems excessive to ban a whole food group, but the deaths and damages have been significant, not least to many children, in Europe as well as the USA.
We all know that developments in the USA are usually mirrored by Britain after a variable delay.
It would be good to see dozy devious Defra, the government Ministry involved, get ahead of the curve and save some lives..
If they won't move, the supermarkets will have to do the job and indeed, if you read between the lines, you can see they are starting to make changes in the UK.
As always, read the whole report from USA today, available here
Another Supermarket Chain Will Permanently Stop Selling Sprouts Due To 'Potential Food Safety Risk'
Elizabeth Weise, USA Today | Oct. 21, 2012, 6:35 AM | 4,214 | 11
Kroger , the nation's largest supermarket chain, has announced it will stop selling sprouts on Monday because of their "potential food safety risk." It joins retail behemoth Walmart, which quietly stopped selling the crunchy greens in 2010.
"After a thorough, science-based review, we have decided to voluntarily discontinue selling fresh sprouts," Payton Pruett, Kroger's vice president of food safety, said in a statement.
"This is big," said Marion Nestle, a professor of food safety at New York University. "This is a major retailer saying 'We aren't going to take it anymore. We can't risk harming our customers, and our suppliers are unwilling or unable to produce safe sprouts.' "...
...FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise that children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems should avoid eating raw sprouts of all kinds, including alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean sprouts. Sprouts can be "cooked thoroughly to reduce the risk of illness," the FDA says.
