title: Industry practices and compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines among California sprout firms.
abstract: Since 1995, raw vegetable sprouts have been implicated as the vehicle of infection in 15 foodborne outbreaks involving Salmonella and 2 foodborne outbreaks involving Escherichia coli O157:H7. To reduce the numbers of sprout-related outbreaks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published Guidance for Industry: Reducing Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Sprouting Seeds in 1999. Between October 2000 and April 2001, 61.5% (16 of 26) of the known commercial sprout firms in California were enrolled in a survey to evaluate the industry practices of California sprouting operations and to determine compliance with FDA guidelines. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect data on firm demographics and seed disinfection practices. Additionally, free chlorine levels in seed disinfection solutions were measured, and 48-h spent irrigation water samples were collected from each firm. The irrigation water was screened for Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 with FDA-recommended test kits. Free chlorine levels in the treatment solutions ranged from 50 to 35,000 mg/liter (ppm), with a median of 14,000 mg/liter (ppm). Free chlorine levels were higher for firms producing alfalfa sprouts than for those producing only mung bean or soybean sprouts (P=0.03). Levels of free chlorine tended to be higher for firms using a calcium hypochlorite treatment solution than for firms using a sodium hypochlorite treatment solution (P=0.067). All 32 irrigation water samples screened for Salmonella tested negative. Of the irrigation water samples tested for E. coil O157:H7, 75% (24 of 32) tested negative, and 25% (8 of 32) tested presumptive positive. The eight presumptive positive samples were found to be negative after further testing. These results indicate that producers of alfalfa sprouts are generally achieving the FDA-recommended calcium hypochlorite level of 20,000 mg/liter (ppm), whereas mung bean sprout producers are not.
authors.affiliation: California Department of Health Services, Food and Drug Branch, 601 North 7th Street, Sacramento, California 94234, USA. jthomas2@dhs.ca.gov
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Mary S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Palumbo
authors.forename: Jeff A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Farrar
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Farver
authors.forename: Dean O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Cliver
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D002713:Chlorine / Q000032:analysis; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004350:Drug Residues / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005525:Food-Processing Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D018525:Germination; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007881:Legislation, Food; D000455:Medicago sativa / Q000382:microbiology; D012639:Seeds / Q000382:microbiology*; D013025:Glycine max / Q000382:microbiology; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D002713:Chlorine