Never Eat Sprouts
Alfalfa sprouts, clover sprouts, and bean sprouts are delicious in my (and perhaps only my) humble opinion. But like lettuce , they are prone to contamination and are served raw. Right now, we are in the midst of an E. coli outbreak in several states associated with clover sprouts being served at Jimmy John.
Jimmy John has stopped serving sprouts, but if you have leftover sprouts, the CDC recommends throwing them away. More importantly, sprout contamination is fairly common and many experts in infectious disease or public health simply don’t eat them .
The problem, unfortunately, is how the seedlings are grown. Whether you buy them or grow them yourself, they stay moist and warm for several days, creating ideal conditions for bacteria to grow.
This means that if the seeds of the seedlings are infected with Salmonella or E. coli , these bacteria can grow as the seedlings grow and cause you to get sick. Washing does not get rid of bacteria . Cooking works, but it ruins the crisp fresh texture, which is probably the only reason you wanted sprouts at all. Knowing this, you may decide it is safer not to eat the sprouts at all.