The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final guidance titled, “Reducing Microbial Food Safety Hazards in the Production of Seed for Sprouting: Guidance for Industry.” The guidance outlines FDA’s concerns about foodborne illness outbreaks associated with the consumption of raw and lightly-cooked sprouts, and provides firms with recommended steps to prevent contamination during the production of seed for sprouting.
According to FDA, there were 52 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to sprouts from 1996–2020, resulting in more than 2,700 cases of illness. Although contamination can occur at any point along the sprout supply chain, FDA identifies seed as the most likely source of contamination in many outbreaks. The Produce Safety Rule (PSR) includes sprout-specific requirements for sprout growers. However, FDA does not consider seed for sprouting to be covered produce under the PSR and, therefore, the growing, conditioning, and distribution of seed for sprouting is not subject to PSR requirements. Although seed used for sprouting is not covered by PSR, FDA considers seed used for sprouting to be food.