Food Safety

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We continually strive to engage in the most rigorous industry standards of food safety for sprouts, with over 25 years history of voluntarily maintaining a (quite expensive) pathogen testing program for all sprouts produced well before it was (finally!) legally required.  We start with using scientifically-backed seed sanitation methods for all seeds we grow. We then conduct "spent irrigation water" pathogen testing, which is the best way to detect any pathogens. We test each batch for both salmonella and for STEC (testing a wide array of pathogenic e.coli species, including and beyond the required 0157:H7). We take seriously the rest of our food safety program and protocols, including regular environmental (listeria and ATP) testing, consistently earning high scores on FDA, ODA, and 3rd party HACCP food safety inspections. The cost of all this is worth knowing we are doing everything we can to keep our customers safe, and our not having issued a single recall in 41 years of business reflects this. 

There is an unfortunate media tendency for sensational, overly-generalized fearmongering when it comes to food safety (and practically everything else). We go through phases when all of a sudden lettuce, spinach, beef, sprouts, or cantelope are not safe to eat, anywhere anytime, until the news stories fade and people go back to eating them. Almost always, the contamination is related to unsafe farming or food processing methods of a specific farm. 

Unfortunately in the past there have been some less cautious sprout growers that cut corners and "do things the old way", skimping on things like sanitizing steps, proper pathogen testing protocols, and hold-and-release programs. Thankfully, food safety regulations and enforcement are catching up to these problem growers, and more retailers and wholesalers are requiring rigorous 3rd-party inspections and standards. We purchase only top quality, pathogen tested sprouting seed from several suppliers we have been working with for decades. 

People have been safely eating sprouts for centuries, and the food safety technology has only increased...it is up to farmers and distributors to value food safety over cutting corners and maximizing profits, and we are proud to be in this majority.