Seeds for Sprouting
Answered by: Koidu Sulev
Question from: James
Posted on: April 26, 2010

Are your seeds good for growing eating sprouts?

Our SowNatural seeds are grown without pesticides and all of our seeds are never treated with fungicides. Growing and processing seeds without chemicals is, of course, the traditional practice of farmers followed for millenia. And such seeds have been used safely for sprouting purposes for years.

But because SowNatural seeds are intended for planting, they are not considered "food grade". This means that we cannot give a blanket assurance that there are no harmful bacteria on the surfaces of the seeds. Seeds sold for sprouting must be handled like food in order to reduce the chance of bacterial contamination in accordance to government regulations. Seeds sold for planting are subject to quite different regulations intended to ensure that weed seeds are not mixed in with the seeds farmers plant.

Ironically, seeds sold for planting are almost always cleaner than those sold for food. Unlike food grade seeds, every batch of seeds for planting has to be tested for purity to make sure that seeds are substantially free of weeds and dirt, otherwise they cannot be sold. Many times we have seen "food grade" seeds with 5% of other crop seeds and weed seeds, as well as dirt, chaff and other inert material. The seeds may be legal to sell for consumption but they are not acceptible for planting.

While we are confident of the quality and purity of our seeds, government rules prevent us from selling our planting seeds for food purposes.

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