Because as good as broccoli is for you, the little seedlings of broccoli are even better. The tiny tendrils contain by weight, 20 times more of the chemical sulforaphane, which reduces the growth of tumors better than mature heads of broccoli. So the approximately half cup serving you'd stuff inside a pita sandwich with tuna might have the same cancer fighting impact as 1-1/4 pounds of full-grown broccoli.

That's good news for people who prefer the lettuce like crunch of raw sprouts to the sometimes overwhelming flavor of cooked broccoli. Springwater Sprouts, the Honeoye Falls company that supplies many kinds of sprouts to all of Western New York…is one of a handful of sprout companies that won certification from Johns Hopkins Medical School, where the early research on sprouts was done. Hopkins' brand Brocco Sprouts is guaranteed to contain a certain amount of sulforaphane. Herm Nies, Sales Manager for the company, says they began sprouting broccoli seeds at Springwater as soon as they read in late 1997 about Johns Hopkins research. Brocco Sprouts became available in Rochester area supermarkets last spring. Since then, they've become the best selling sprouts at Wegmans says spokeswoman Jo Natale, topping even bean sprouts, a staple of Asian cuisine.

Excerpt reprinted from Saturday January 2, 1999 Democrat & Chronicle.

Broccoli Sprouts:
Possible Cancer Preventative

Scientists have bred a novel form of broccoli that is tender, tangy and richer by far in powerful anticancer compounds than are the familiar broccoli heads slapped onto dinner plates and platters.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have found that broccoli sprouts, grown in plastic laboratory dishes from ordinary broccoli seeds, contain anywhere from 30 to 50 times the concentration of protective chemicals in adult broccoli plants.

These chemicals, called isothiocyanates, were already known to be potent stimulators of natural detoxifying enzymes in the body, and are thought to help explain why the consumption of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage and kale is associated with a lowered risk of contracting cancer. For example, some epidemiological studies indicate that to cut the risk of colon cancer in half, a person needs to eat about two pounds of broccoli and similar vegetables a week, a goal that very few people meet. Given the chemical potency of broccoli sprouts, the scientists said, the same reduction in risk might be had with a weekly intake of just a little over an ounce of sprouts.

As an added benefit, broccoli sprouts seem to lack the undesirable toxins found in trace amounts in mature broccoli plants, particularly chemicals known to help transform precarcinogenic compounds in the body into full-blown agents of cancer. Unlike other products under development known variously as designer foods or so-called nutraceuticals, broccoli sprouts are in no way genetically enhanced.