The state Department of Health today recommended that consumers avoid eating raw alfalfa sprouts, including sprout blends containing alfalfa, until further notice because the product has been linked to a salmonella contamination.

Alfalfa sprouts have been linked to Salmonella serotype Saintpaul contamination on the Mainland. Other types of sprouts have not been implicated at this time. This follows the recommendation issued yesterday by the U.S Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although there have been no confirmed salmonella cases attributable to alfalfa sprouts in Hawaii, the Department of Health's Food and Drug Branch will be pulling samples from local alfalfa sprout growers for testing. There are local sprout growers on every island in Hawaii.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

The FDA has detailed information on reducing microbial safety hazards for sprouted seeds at: www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/sprougd1.html