mint Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Me too, hate beansprouts in salads but not when they are fried as in Chinese cooking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Unfortunately. not just bean sprouts (which come from mung beans), but any kind of sprouts are suspect as long as the final culprit amongst sprouts has not been identified. As far as I understand, it could come from any one of the seeds that are used for sprouting: alfalfa, lentils, fenugreek, cress, beetroot, etc..."The largest outbreak linked to sprouts took place in Japan in 1996, when 6,000 people got sick and 17 died after eating radish sprouts contaminated with E.coli O157: H7."Ironically, amidst the cucumber/lettuce/tomato warnings, I re-started sprouting my own seeds just to be safe last week, and they are almost ready. Now I am just looking at them and wondering if they could turn into killers. So out they will go onto the compost heap (unless I cook them!) and I will go and buy salad ingredients as before - except sprouts! edit: AND...some journalists should really check their facts thoroughly before they write: this is a common enough mistake, to believe that bean shoots come from soya beans. THEY DO NOT! They come from mung beans! So now, we have soja implicated, erroneously. GRRRRR!!!! http://www.lepoint.fr/sante/e-coli-des-graines-germees-pourraient-etre-a-l-origine-de-l-epidemie-05-06-2011-1338641_40.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 It is actually worse than that 5E. "Sprossen" (German) means sprouts (not Bruxelles) and not bean sprouts - so it will include things such as cress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Had beansprouts from Lidl on saturday night in stirfry - these were in a jar and not a recent purchase and we are fine plus they don't come from Germany anyway. My son is back at local Lidl for the summer (his third year with them) and all last week customers were asking where the fresh salad produce comes from, which luckily living in the main salad producing belt for France,are all local so they are safe with no outbreaks here in the west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I have "grown" my own sprouts for many years, which is easy to do in a jar. Not just mung beans, but cress as you say Andy, also lentils, fenugreek, alfalfa, radish, beetroot, sunflower, wheat, etc... Looks like the end of "pousses germées", until the exact source can be located with absolute precision. Until then, we won't know if it is the water, the seeds themselves, or some fertiliser that is used commercially?? (you only need water if you grow your own).I have just bought 3 cucumbers, as I feel this is probably the safest salad vegetable around at the moment.[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Not that the media have again managed to affect rational human beings with their soon to be chip paper. So much for the easily traceable paperwork insisted by the EU which would have isolated the source very quickly mind you that doesn't sell news papers or fill broadcasts, those sad lot feed off bad news like bacteria anyway. Just wash all your produce in a mild bleach and water solution, just like the professional pre packed salad providers do. E coli is almost certainly from the fertiliser used as it is carried in animals gut and feces. Your salad is usually washed in a solution roughly 5 times stronger than what is used to disinfect swimming pools. Crikey, I thought I was ok with F.e.c.e.s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 And it's taken me YEARS to get to not mind eating vegetables raw as in salads!Coops, are you out there? Seems like you have the right idea, leaving all salad ingredients out of your diet! Mind you, I suggest you now no longer put them on poor Mr Coops' plate instead![:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 "So much for the easily traceable paperwork insisted by the EU which would have isolated the source very quickly" I think you are being alittle unfair on the EU (and German) authorities. Bear in mind that the infection takes around 8 days to incubate - and at the start at least, probably another 4-5 days tor easlise that this is not just another jippy tummy. Now all the victim (who probably is not feeling overly bright and perky) has to do is to remember every single thing they had to eat and drink in the last 2 weeks, and where they got it from. If it does turn out to be the sprouted seeds then this could have been a sprinking on the lettuce leaf that was put into a wurst (sausage) sandwich bought from a baker. Needles and haystacks spring to mind. This has not been like a cluster of victims all of whom shopped at the same butcher, but a lot broader in terms of geographical spread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 [quote user="andyh4"]"So much for the easily traceable paperwork insisted by the EU which would have isolated the source very quickly" I think you are being alittle unfair on the EU (and German) authorities. Bear in mind that the infection takes around 8 days to incubate - and at the start at least, probably another 4-5 days tor easlise that this is not just another jippy tummy. Now all the victim (who probably is not feeling overly bright and perky) has to do is to remember every single thing they had to eat and drink in the last 2 weeks, and where they got it from. If it does turn out to be the sprouted seeds then this could have been a sprinking on the lettuce leaf that was put into a wurst (sausage) sandwich bought from a baker. Needles and haystacks spring to mind. This has not been like a cluster of victims all of whom shopped at the same butcher, but a lot broader in terms of geographical spread.[/quote]So we are looking for a Broad bean now? [Www][:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 That will make a change from an alert cucumber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Or indeed a limp lettuce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Or a pert courgette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Well the good news from the radio was beansprouts are ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Except that this morning it is claimed that the formerly implicated farm may indeed have been "a" source.Three of the workers there fell foul of the bug and there is therefore the unstated implication that the farm may have been a secondary source of infection due to poor personal hygene. I am thinking that we may never know the original source - perhaps it was the E Cucumber after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbie Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 If it doesn't grow in my garden, I'm not eating it. Just wish I had a bigger garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I know what you mean, Debbie. I now started looking at my own sprouts with suspicion, and even threw away some sprouted lentils. Are we doomed to cooking everything now? But then, it might eventually be discovered that this e.coli outbreak came from water, or mushrooms, or anything that would normally be thought to be beyond all suspicion! Or it might be ONE individual (or two individuals?) carrier with more than objectionable hygiene - or even bad intentions. It could be nothing to do with vegetables, it could be dairy or meat product.All I hope is that the source will eventually be found, so that we know what to avoid, now we are following hygiene guidelines with renewed vigour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Hygiene is very poor I find here in France. Just look at the number of men who have a pee outside and then go back to doing what they were before and no hand washing or the visitors that use your loo and although they now flush as I have insisted on that from day one, they never use the bathroom next door to wash their hand where there is soap and towels waiting. You can see how germs are so easily transferred by ignorance or laziness of a few simple practices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 @Val2 quite right. Never eat oysters ever...uncooked with a spot of vinaigrette...dont pull my dong.[:)]Look at the jump in gastros after new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I got two biguns for 99 cents today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbie Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 It is very scary that it could be in the water! I think that might be the worst. Then even our own gardens wouldn't have a chance. EeeGad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 It is also very unlikely, especially German water. Water for consumption is treated by U.V. and chlorine, often chlorine dioxide gas which inactivates E-coli incredibly fast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Beansprouts, but how?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13725953 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 And what better manner of getting the all important CO2 activating vector.?The fermentation process in a BioGaz installation.And what better manner of getting the ECEH on your bean sprouts?Feed them the waste material from the fermentation in the Ecologically friendly BioGaz installation.[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 My bean sprouts just have water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5-element Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Does anyone actually know what is done to the sprouts that are grown commercially? Obviously, not just water is used, like the ones we grow at home... so what is the big difference??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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