In article >,
"john martin" > wrote:

> I forgot some mung beans that I was soaking and they have put out white root
> shoots.
>
> I know that some people sprout pulses and beans to put in salad *raw*, but
> at what point do mung beans (and others such as alfalfa- widely sold in
> health food shops in London for sprouting) become safe to eat raw in a
> salad? Since it says on all the packets not to eat raw.

You mentioned "London", so this makes me think of red kidney bean
poisoning. This has only been reported in the UK. Since it is not
fatal, usually does not require major medical treatment and only lasts a
few hours; it is suspected that it occurs anywhere red kidney beans are
eaten, but just doesn't get reported as that:

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap43.html

It is caused by raw or undercooked beans, especially red kidney. It is
suggested that the toxicity is ten times higher when beans are heated to
80C. Boiling them destroys almost all of the toxin. Thus the warnings
about cooking beans in a crock pot.

As Om suggested, if the root shoots are small, you can just cook these
beans. I've eaten vegetarian chili that had a mix of beans, one
sprouted.

"Bean sprouts" are made from mung beans, so they should be fine raw, but
I have no idea when they become safe.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA