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I bought some lentils, groats, sunflower seeds, etc from whole foods (organic raw). Are they safe to sprout?

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I'm hard-pressed to think of a reason that seeds wouldn't be safe to sprout. – Carmi Nov 17 '11 at 5:25
Just some stuff I read online made me think that it was possible that not cooking them could increase the risk of food poisoning. They say pregnant women aren't supposed to eat sprouts because of this. The sproutpeople.org site mentioned that their seeds are tested to ensure they are pathogen free (and that perhaps seeds from places like whole foods are not and are therefor possibly carrying pathogens that could make you sick...) – cmcculloh Nov 17 '11 at 22:53
Seeds from any source can be contaminated, it nothing to do with being "organic", more to do with animals shitting on them while being harvested etc. Wash them well before starting the sprouting process and you increase your chances of being OK – TFD Nov 17 '11 at 23:17

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Yes organic raw seeds are safe to sprout.

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Awesome, thanks! Do you have any citations or anything to help expand on the answer? – cmcculloh Nov 17 '11 at 22:54
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Sure! sprouting is fun :-) You can sprout almost any kind of grain or cereal, including but not limited to the kinds you mentioned.

Just soak them in water overnight, put them into a colander for the excess water to drain, then put the colander in some dark, dry place (I use a cupboard) for them to start sprouting. It might take a day or two (or more), depending on the breed of course.

The process of sprouting will turn the seed into a vegetable, and will increase the amount of nutrients in it — that's more vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants for you!

Anyway, it's a safe process, regardless of the seeds being organic or not. Just to be on the safe side you may want to use latex gloves, protective eye goggles and perhaps a bullet proof vest :-)

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+1 for bullet proof vest. – Agos Nov 23 '11 at 20:59
Cheers! i was merely being practical... :-) I just had some humous i made from sprouted chickpeas, and i can tell you this: sprouted humous has a lesser effect on your digestion system! – Talbatz Nov 24 '11 at 21:36

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