Being able to grow fruits and vegetables indoors may seem like an ideal situation, especially in cool climates.

But a University of Guelph food scientist says that while the method may one day help Canada become self-sufficient in a variety of crops, it doesn’t come without health risks.

“As the industry has grown, outbreaks and recalls linked to pathogens such as salmonella and listeria are becoming more common,” Keith Warriner warned this week in a university news release.

“The conditions of indoor farms are constant and ideal for plant growth, but that stable system (also) supports the growth and persistence of pathogens,” he added.

Though the solution lies in effective sanitation, particularly when it comes to germinating seeds, Warriner says “many of the current cleaning methods d

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