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Use of Spent Irrigation Water for
Microbiological Analysis of Alfalfa Sprouts
Journal of Food Protection: June 2001, Vol. 64, No. 6, pp.
802–806.
T. Fu, D. Stewart, J Schlesser, and M. Tortorello
U.S. Food and Drug
Administration
K. Reikeke and J. Ulaszek
Illinois Institute
of Technology, National Center for Food Safety and Technology
Abstract—Numerous
outbreaks of foodborne illness have been linked to the consumption of raw
sprouts. Sprout producers have been advised by the Food and Drug Administration
to include microbiological testing of spent irrigation water during production
as part of an overall strategy to enhance the safety of sprouts. Alfalfa sprouts
and irrigation water were analyzed to show the feasibility of using irrigation
water for monitoring the microbiological safety of sprouts. Sprouts and water
were produced and harvested from both commercial-scale (rotary drum) and
consumer-scale (glass jars) equipment. Rapid increases of aerobic mesophiles
occurred during the first 24 h of sprouting, with maximum levels achieved after
48 to 72 h. The counts in irrigation water were on average within approximately
1 log of their respective counts in the sprouts. Similar results were obtained
for analysis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in irrigation water and sprouts grown
from artificially inoculated seeds. Testing of spent irrigation water indicated
the contamination status of alfalfa sprouts grown from seeds associated with
outbreaks of Salmonella infection.
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