Are all vegetables' sprouts safe to eat or is/are there exception/s?

Not that I’m aware of unless sprouted in a toxic environment.

You could always google each seed you want to sprout individually if you were concerned but seeing as all the sprouts we eat we also eat either in plant form and/or in seed form I would be very surprised.

@Unbroken that is what I thought too, But then I found out about leaf of rhubarb purely by accident.

Potato sprouts are toxic, although you’d have to eat a lot of them to get sick.

I have heard that alfalfa sprouts have a much higher tendency to be contaminated with salmonella or e coli than other sprouts. Not exactly sure why, but according to This Information it is not that the sprouts are contaminated after the fact (like if they were laying in contaminated water or grown in contaminated soil, or even handled by contaminated hands or equipment) but by the original seeds being contaminated themselves. That was something I wasn’t aware of until just now, I always thought it was due to the surroundings in which the sprouts were grown.

The fact that sprouts have to be grown in a warm moist environment, is another problem, because that is the perfect conditions to make bacteria grow. Yikes!

I love radish sprouts, but I never eat alfalfa sprouts (the most common type that you get on a sandwich at a restaurant) but that is because I had heard that they were particularly susceptible to harboring bacteria.

And Further Eeeeeeeek! I feel like running away from my refrigerator, which as you probably know is full of fruits and veggies. And then there’s This

I think I may have to rethink my ideas about sprouts and possibly put them on the don’t eat list : (

Rhubarb leaves have always been common knowledge to me. Much like apple seeds, and watermelon seeds etc.

It is much more common for seeds or hulls to be toxic even though the quantities are really quite small. It is a self defense mechanism that protects offspring and livelihood.

That is one of the reasons sprouting is touted. It removes the slightly toxic coating and improves digestability. when you look at what your sprouting varieties of legumes rice and seeds these are crops grown for mass consumption. So logically sprouting food you were already eating seems less toxic option.

Since rhubarb leaves toxicity has always been known to me I am not certain of the origin or reason. Though it would seem that as in most plants this would ward off natural enemies. Pests and bugs that might make use of the greenery for food and shelter. Many plants in fact most of our house plants leaves contain some sort of natural and “toxic” repellent. I have seen natural insect repellents made from these oils and they do seem to work against specific bugs they might also attract others.

Lima beans are supposed to be somewhat toxic unless cooked, so I would check that out first.

Also, I understand that tomato leaves are poisonous, so check that out, too.

@Kardamom Your links aren’t working.

So rhubarb leaves were meant to keep away little critters. Turns out beet greens, cabbage leaves and some other greenery contain oxalic acid too, though that isn’t the only poison found in rhubarb and should be cut off or cooked.

Good to know.

@Unbroken Dang! I’ll see if I can remedy that situation. Hmmm, just checked them again and they seem to be visible on my end, when I go out of Fluther, then come back into it. Are you on a phone? I’ve noticed that when people post links from phones, I can’t see them or access them on my laptop. Anyone else have that problem?

Can you see this link about Sprouts and why they are potentially dangerous?

Yep I am on my phone. And I was able to catch that link. Interesting. Though I wonder about making your own if it were properly rinsed and then patted dry let sit in pan loosely covered with saran wrap. It is unclear if they are talking about commercially sprouted or from dubious locales like salad and sandwhich bars or personally sprouted.

As a person generally remembers eating sprouts they make.

All the links you posted are fine on my end @Kardamom
But I was referring to toxicity, like the leaves of rhubarb. I knew about e-coli etc. since we hear about those in the news now and then.

Thanks everyone.

@Unbroken It didn’t seem to have anything to do with how the sprouts were raised, as to whether it was commercial, or at home. It had to do with the actual seeds being contaminated and then when they sprouted, and in the environment that sprouts need to be raised in (moist and warm) that even if there was only a little bit of bacteria on the seed, it would quickly spread and contaminate all the sprouts around it. And you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at them, unless you were using specific testing equipment. That’s what’s so scary about it, most people would eat them, not knowing that they were contaminated.

These are not sprouts, but here is a list of 10 common fruits and vegetables that may be harmful if they are not prepped correctly. List

Just a guess, but since a sprout is an embryo of the entire plant, I would think that if most of the plant is toxic, the sprout will also be toxic. For example, consider a tomato plant , whose nightshade family includes some particularly nasty members. Apart from the fruit, the tomato plant is toxic. I would not think of eating tomato sprouts.

@2davidc8 @ccrow your posts made me search some more. I got this
The site is new to me though.
Are these things taught in elementary school? Is it common knowledge that tomatoe leaves are dangerous?

“The leaves and stems of the tomato plant contain a chemical called “Glycoalkaloid” which causes extreme nervousness and stomach upsets Despite this, they can be used in cooking to enhance flavor, but they must be removed before eating.”
Okay it’s not that dangerous I guess.