Via Forbes.com: Like sprouts? Experts say cook first to be safe. That is, cook them if you can find them. I suspect deep-fried crickets and chocolate-covered ants will be on more menus than sprouts from now on. Excerpt:
Sprouts may not be as healthy as you thought. Now implicated in an outbreak that has killed 31 people and sickened nearly 3,100 in Europe, they are a frequent culprit in foodborne illness.
Alfalfa sprouts, bean sprouts and other varieties of the salad topper and sandwich filler have sickened more than 400 people in the United States in the last two years and are blamed for dozens of significant outbreaks globally in the last two decades.
Sprouts need warm and humid conditions to grow - precisely the same conditions required by bugs like E. coli and salmonella to thrive.
Though they add a nice crunch and are loaded with protein and vitamins, they carry a real risk. The U.S. government recommends that the very young, elderly, pregnant and others with compromised immune systems stay away from raw sprouts completely and that anyone who eats sprouts cook them first.
Federal officials go so far as to recommend that people ask that raw sprouts not be added to their food at restaurants.
