New food safety treatment for alfalfa sprouts.

Treating alfalfa seeds and sprouts with a combination of irradiation and chlorine effectively safeguards them against E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella, USDA researchers found. Not only did the dual treatment kill both organisms, it extended the shelf life of sprouts from about five days to more than a week, according to the department's Agriculture Research Service. This is good news for sprout growers. Since 1995, raw alfalfa sprouts have been recognized as a source of foodborne illness in the United States, with several outbreaks of both E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella. Since sprouts cannot withstand abrasive physical washing because of their fragility, cleaning the seed has become the primary focus. According to the scientists, the best way to eliminate pathogens is a combination of irradiation and sanitation treatments. That is because sprouts and seeds may be contaminated internally, which would prevent a surface disinfectant from working effectively. In the t ests, the scientists used the irradiation dose approved for meat.