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SANITATION AND FOOD SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS
For your health and safety, please read the infor-
mation below.
Microgreens are baby plants. They have intense con-
centrated flavor and more nutrients than full grown
plants. They are not sprouts and are safer to grow than
sprouts.
Starting with Seeds
Make sure that all seeds you buy have been tested
and grown as a food crop and are free from contamina-
tion. Do not use seeds from crops that have been ferti-
lized with animal waste. Reputable seed suppliers test
all lots of seed for contamination.
Make sure that each seed package is labeled with the
name of the seed producer or distributor, the lot num-
ber and the country of origin.
Keep records of all seed lots in case of recall.
Sanitation
Use clean seed and growing media from reputable
suppliers. Do not use garden soil or dirt from outside.
Regularly clean and sanitize all growing drawers, cabi-
net and reservoir. Monitor the growing zones daily and
clean at the first sign of mold or contamination. Adjust
your watering cycles, humidity and temperature so that
the fans operate regularly. Clean the cabinet between
growing cycles.
Don’t let greens or seeds come into contact with con-
taminated surfaces, manure or other contaminated or-
ganic material.
Your growing space, hands and equipment must be
kept clean at all times for handling microgreens. We
recommend use of food handling gloves during plant-
ing and harvesting.
Use clean, potable water in the reservoir.
Clean Seed
You may choose to clean and sanitize your seed prior
to growing. It is not necessary with microgreens and
reputable suppliers test their seed for contamination.
But, if you want to take extra precautions, use this
method:
Add 5 ounces of 5% hydrogen peroxide and one ounce
distilled vinegar to one quart of room temperature wa-
ter. Pour the solution over the seed and let stand for 5
minutes, making sure that all of the seed is in contact
with the solution. Drain and rinse the seeds in clean
water several times to make sure the solution has been
removed. Plant as usual.
Growing Conditions
Microgreens are not sprouts and are not grown in the
same manner. Commercial sprouts are generally
grown in large tanks of water. If one seed is contami-
nated, it will contaminate all of the sprouts in the tank.
Microgreens are not grown in this way. We recommend
growing them in sterile soil or other sterile media which
acts as a filter to remove contamination.
Harvesting
Microgreens are newly germinated, small plants and
are usually harvested at the stage where the first true
leaves appear. They should be harvested with clean
hands, or using food handling gloves, clipped at least
2” away from the root system and soil, using clean dis-
infected scissors. Make sure your harvesting space
and containers are clean. Roots or clinging soil, should
be removed and your micros should cleaned thorough-
ly before consumption.
Refrigerate cut microgreens. Treat them and any
foods containing them as food. Note: basil is sensitive
to the cold and should not be refrigerated. Use imme-
diately or place in a clean container at room tempera-
ture and use within a day.
