Market Farming

[Leigh Hauter <lh AT pressroom.com>]

Title: why the FDA defines Wheat grass as a sprout

Here is FDA thinking on why wheatgrass grown in soil is to be defined as a sprout (because it hasn't been proven not to be a sprout) and what exactly 'crunchy salad mix' (which is not to be confused with salad mix) is.

The guidance referred to here is two fold.  First compliance with  the 1999 rule  (called guidance): Reducing Microbial Food Safety Hazards For Sprouted Seeds http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/sprougd1.html

And the new one which is a 'guidance' called "sampling and Microbial Testing of Spent Irrigation Water During Sprout Production"   The second one looks somewhat pricey and will, in my thinking, no doubt put a lot of small sprout growers out of business.

Here is why wheatgrass is a sprout in FDA think:

A number of comments asked for clari-
fication on the types of products covered

by the guidance. The guidance covers all
raw sprouted seed. In its consideration of
the microbial hazards associated with
sprouted seed, the National Advisory
Committee on Microbiological Criteria
for Foods (NACMCF) included wheat -
grass grown in soil. FDA has no informa-
tion to exclude sprouts grown in soil from

its recommendations...

Although most
sprouts are sprouted for an average of
three to 10 days, some seeds and beans are
sprouted for a shorter time (24 hours) to
produce a slightly sprouted product, some-

times called ⤦crunchy salad mix.â...

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/sprouts3.pdf .