Bill Marler Petitions FDA for Mandatory Sprout Warning Labels

For twenty-eight years, the FDA has issued internal advisories warning children, the elderly, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised against eating raw sprouts. Despite these persistent warnings in federal food codes and consumer booklets, retail packaging remains silent. Marler, a veteran attorney specializing in foodborne illness, argues this regulatory gap must close to ensure shoppers receive the same protection already afforded to patients in nursing homes and hospitals.

The proposed petition seeks to amend 21 CFR 101.17, requiring a boxed warning label on all raw or lightly cooked sprout packaging. The text would explicitly state that sprouts may harbor Salmonella, E. coli, or Listeria, noting that pathogens often reside inside seeds where washing cannot reach them. Marler emphasizes that this is not a product ban but an information requirement, mirroring the successful warning system implemented for unpasteurized juice in 1998. He is currently soliciting public feedback on the draft before formally filing the petition with the FDA in October.