Educational Materials and Tools
SSA is dedicated to assisting sprout growers and producers in identifying and implementing best practices in the safe production of sprouts. The Alliance is building a comprehensive educational and reference library in this section and we welcome your input.
If you would like to submit additional resource materials to this section, please contact SSA Coordinator Yuqiao Jin, Ph.D with suggestions at sproutalliance@iit.edu.
Note: Please check these pages frequently for updated resource materials. If you experience any difficulties downloading materials or discover broken links, please contact us via email.
SSA Curriculum
SSA Webinars
Updates to the FDA Guidance for Sprout Growers, June 26, 2024. | |
, November 15, 2019.
, September 30, 2019.
Best Practices in Sprout Production
Released in 2011, IIT IFSH's Sprout Safety Taskforce's ground-breaking audit checklist, along with on-site beta test results validating its effectiveness in a real-world setting, is designed to improve sprout safety best practices.
Useful reference list of published studies evaluating antimicrobial treatments for sprouting seeds.
Disclaimer: Some of the methods listed in Appendix B below have not been through multi-lab validation to gain the AOAC Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) status. For a list of FDA approved equivalent methods for testing E. coli O157 and Salmonella in spent sprout irrigation water or sprout samples, please see
Useful list of AOAC Official Methods, Performance Tested Methods, and other validated tests for microbial testing of spent irrigation water during sprout production.
Existing Sprout Safety Training Materials
Sprout Videos: Food Safety Best Practices for Sprout Production (2024)
Sprout Videos: Safer Processing of Sprouts (2000)
Module 1
Module 2
Module 3
Module 4
Module 5
The California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition jointly developed this video in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, university researchers and industry representatives to assist the industry in producing a safer product. The video may also be useful for retailers, regulators, and anyone working with the industry who wants to better understand the product and current recommendations for best production.
Training Materials From Other U.s. Food Safety Alliances
This course manual and accompanying generic HACCP plans and overheads were developed by the Juice HACCP Alliance, a group comprised of federal and state food inspection officials, university food science educators and juice industry representatives. The course was designed to meet the HACCP training requirements established under 21 CFR Part 120.13 of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's mandatory juice HACCP inspection program.
This training curriculum provides a current, convenient and cost-effective education and training program to assist commercial and regulatory compliance with the prevailing requirements for product safety during processing and import of any seafood in the United States.
Other Materials of Interest
European Food Safety Authority.