Fahey Jed W, Ourisson Philippe J, Degnan Frederick H
Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Lewis B, and Dorothy Cullman Cancer Chemoprotection Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Nutr J. 2006 Apr 21;5:13. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-5-13.
The recent increased interest in consuming green vegetable sprouts has been tempered by the fact that fresh sprouts can in some cases be vehicles for food-borne illnesses. They must be grown according to proper conditions of sanitation and handled as a food product rather than as an agricultural commodity. When sprouts are grown in accordance with the criteria proposed from within the sprout industry, developed by regulatory agencies, and adhered to by many sprouters, green sprouts can be produced with very low risk. Contamination may occur when these guidelines are not followed.
A one year program of microbial hold-and-release testing, conducted in concert with strict seed and facility cleaning procedures by 13 U.S. broccoli sprout growers was evaluated. Microbial contamination tests were performed on 6839 drums of sprouts, equivalent to about 5 million consumer packages of fresh green sprouts.
Only 24 (0.75%) of the 3191 sprout samples gave an initial positive test for Escherichia coli O157:H7 or Salmonella spp., and when re-tested, 3 drums again tested positive. Composite testing (e.g., pooling up to 7 drums for pathogen testing) was equally sensitive to single drum testing.
By using a "test-and-re-test" protocol, growers were able to minimize crop destruction. By pooling drums for testing, they were also able to reduce testing costs which now represent a substantial portion of the costs associated with sprout growing. The test-and-hold scheme described herein allowed those few batches of contaminated sprouts to be found prior to packaging and shipping. These events were isolated, and only safe sprouts entered the food supply.
近期人们对食用绿色蔬菜芽苗菜的兴趣有所增加，但新鲜芽苗菜在某些情况下可能成为食源性疾病的传播媒介，这一事实给这种兴趣带来了一定影响。它们必须在适当的卫生条件下种植，并作为食品而非农产品进行处理。当芽苗菜按照芽苗菜行业内部提出、监管机构制定且许多种植者遵循的标准进行种植时，绿色芽苗菜的生产风险可以非常低。若不遵循这些指导方针，就可能发生污染。
对美国13家西兰花芽苗菜种植者开展的为期一年的微生物留存与释放测试项目进行了评估，该项目与严格的种子和设施清洁程序协同进行。对6839桶芽苗菜进行了微生物污染测试，相当于约500万个消费者包装的新鲜绿色芽苗菜。
在3191个芽苗菜样本中，只有24个（0.75%）最初检测出大肠杆菌O157:H7或沙门氏菌呈阳性，重新检测时，有3桶再次检测呈阳性。综合检测（例如，将多达7桶样本合并进行病原体检测）与单桶检测的灵敏度相同。
通过采用“检测再检测”方案，种植者能够将作物损失降至最低。通过合并桶数进行检测，他们还能够降低检测成本，而检测成本目前占芽苗菜种植相关成本的很大一部分。本文所述的检测留存方案能够在包装和运输之前发现少数几批受污染的芽苗菜。这些事件是孤立的，只有安全的芽苗菜进入食品供应环节。
