State health officials warned Thursday that alfalfa sprouts sold by a Northern California company to stores and restaurants in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria. The company, Salad Cosmo USA Corp., of Dixon, announced a voluntary recall after routine tests found salmonella in alfalfa seeds. “Consumers, especially infants, young children and the elderly, are susceptible to serious infection when exposed to salmonella,” said Kevin Reilly, acting state public health officer. The Department of Health Services said Salad Cosmo was recalling two-and-a-half-ounce plastic containers and one-pound plastic bags of sprouts labeled Salad Cosmo Alfalfa Sprouts with the production codes of 0519 to 0526.

I have been advocating warnings since at least 2000 and better techniques to prevent contamination since 2003. I found the Mission Statement of Salad Cosmo Corporation interesting”

Salad Cosmo currently collaborates with professionals from all over the world to constantly improve the quality of our products and make sure that our bacterial testing is utilizing the highest technologies available.

If there ever was a question regarding the quality of our sprouts, our extensive record keeping system enables us to quickly trace each bag of product through the production and growing phases at our facility all the way to the store of purchase.