The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with the Illinois Institute of Technolgy’s Institute for Food Safety and Health (IIT IFSH) has created the Sprouts Safety Alliance to help sprout producers follow best practices.
This Alliance is going to develop core curriculum, training, and outreach programs. It will be made up of FDA members, local and state food protection agencies, the food industry, and academia.
In early 2012, the FDA will issue a proposed rule that is going to establish science-based standards for production and harvest of high-risk produce, under section 105 of the Food Safety Modernization Act.
Sprouts have a unique level of risk because the warm, dark and moist environment they grow in encourages bacterial growth. And seeds often have bacteria encapsulated within them, making most antibacterial treatments ineffective.
The Alliance will:
- Develop training materials for best practices based on FDA guidance documents.
- Provide tools for growers to they can conduct self-audits of their sprouting operations.
- Develop training materials for implementation of requirements in new safety regulations.
- Serve as a resource for the sprout industry along with regulatory agencies.
- Develop a technical assistance network for the sprout industry.
- Collaborate with the USDA, university extension services, and other agencies to provide classroom, distance training, and workshops.
It remains to be seen whether there is anything anyone can do to make raw sprouts a safe product. There have been problems with third party audits in the produce industry in the past.
