A food hygiene specialist has warned the public against using a vegetable that is a popular staple in health food cafes due to the alarming risk of food poisoning.
Raw sprouts (small watercress-like greens added to salads, soups, and sandwiches) may be full of vitamin C and magnesium, but they’re also a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria.
That’s according to a US-based food scientist who goes by @hydroxide on social media and attracts millions of users to her food safety videos.
In a recent clip posted to her TikTok channel, the expert described raw sprouts as a “very, very, very high risk food” and said they are the one food she will always avoid.
Sprouts are seeds that have germinated and grown into very young, small plants.
Nuts, seeds, beans, and leafy green vegetables can be consumed as sprouts.
However, the environment in which they grow is also the perfect environment for bacteria to thrive.
The food scientist said: “Bacteria are like your best friends during spring break: They want to go somewhere warm and humid and they’re thirsty.”
Often touted as nutritional powerhouses packed with vitamin C, protein, and fiber, raw sprouts are sprinkled on salads and added to tacos, sandwiches, and Buddha Bowls.
“So the sprouts are basically grown in the warmest, moistest, most humid environment you can imagine, and guess which bacteria love that?”
Unless you blanch them or “cook them into submission,” there is a risk of food poisoning, he added.
One study reported that the number of microorganisms in a sprouting seed can reach up to one billion within three days after the germination process, according to a report from Clemson University in North Carolina, United States.
What’s more, US food safety authorities reported More than 2,000 cases of illness related to crude outbreaks between 1996 and 2010, including 123 hospitalizations and one death.
Social media scientists also warned their 106,000 social media followers that small vegetables can spread bacteria throughout the kitchen.
“You also have to think that when you’re handling high-risk foods that have all that moisture in them, it could stain all your kitchen supplies, your countertops, your sink and a lot of other things,” he said.
Raw sprouts can be contaminated with harmful bacteria such as E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella, which can cause food poisoning.
Experts have said leftovers should be stored in the top section of the refrigerator, away from fresh meat. Food safety authorities also warn against leaving leftovers in the refrigerator for more than two days before consuming them.
Diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps and a high temperature are symptoms of food poisoning according to the NHS.
It can also cause you to feel generally unwell, tired, and experience aches and chills.
Symptoms of food poisoning usually begin a few days or hours after eating the food that caused the infection, but in some cases it can take a week for symptoms to appear.
The number of people in the UK suffering from serious attacks of food poisoning is increasing, according to recent figures.
Between 2013 and 2023, hospital admissions for salmonella, the potentially deadly virus often found in undercooked meat, increased by 79 percent in England.
Meanwhile, E-coli and Campylobacter reached record levels in 2023, with hospital admissions for the latter reaching nine out of every 100,000 people in 2023, up from three out of every 100,000 in 2000.
It seems that the United States is witnessing a similar pattern.
The number of Americans who have died from food poisoning has increased 50 percent in four years, according to an official report released in July.
The United States has also seen a 20 percent increase in the number of people hospitalized after eating spoiled food, and the same increase in life-threatening cases.