Avoid eating sprouts if pregnant, young or elderly: FDA

News that German sprouts are to blame for the deadliest E.coli outbreak in history should put parents, the elderly and pregnant women on high alert.

In a general statement unrelated to the recent outbreak in Europe, the US Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) has always advised that children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems avoid eating raw sprouts of any kind altogether - sprouts that include alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean sprouts.

Because they're grown in warm and humid conditions, sprouts provide the ideal breeding ground for bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli and have killed in the past.

Since 1996 there have been at least 30 outbreaks of foodborne illnesses associated with different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts in the US.

Last year, 68 people in England and 15 people in Scotland tested positive for Salmonella bareilly after eating sprouts from a salad producer.

Rinsing the sprouts will not remove bacteria, and can continue to pose a health risk.

Likewise, growing sprouts at home can also pose a danger as harmful bacteria could be present in or on the seed and can grow to high levels even under sanitary conditions at home, the FDA says.

Cooking sprouts thoroughly will reduce the risk of illness.

After mistakenly blaming Spanish cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce and then retracting their initial statement identifying sprouts as the culprit, German health officials finally announced that despite negative results, epidemiological studies concluded that sprouts were what killed 29 people in Germany, one person in Sweden, and sickened another 3,000 people. Most of the victims were adult women, perhaps because female consumers are more health-conscious in their food choices.

The FDA also advises that vulnerable groups avoid foods like sandwiches and salads with added sprouts.

Here are a few more tips on how to avoid food poisoning, courtesy of the UK's National Health Service.

1. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water and dry them before handling food and after handling raw meat, going to the toilet, blowing your nose or touching any animals.

2. Wash worktops before and after preparing food, particularly after they've been touched by raw meat, including poultry or raw eggs. Anti-bacterial washes are unnecessary. Hot soapy water is fine.

3. Wash dishcloths and tea towels regularly and let them dry before you use them again. Dirty, damp cloths are the perfect place for bacteria to breed.

4. Use separate chopping boards for raw meat and for ready-to-eat food. Raw meat contains harmful bacteria that can spread very easily to anything it touches, including other foods, worktops, chopping boards and knives.

5. Keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat foods such as salad, fruit and bread.

6. Always cover raw meat and store it on the bottom shelf of the fridge where it can't touch other foods or drip on to them.

7. Cook food thoroughly and check that it's piping hot all the way through.

8. Keep your fridge temperature between 0°C and 5°C. By keeping food cold, you stop bacteria from growing.

9. If you have cooked food that you're not going to eat straight away, cool it as quickly as possible (within 90 minutes) and store it in the fridge or freezer. Use any leftovers from the fridge within two days.

10. Don't eat food that's past its expiry date label. These are based on scientific tests that show how quickly harmful bugs can develop in the packaged food.