From Farm to Fork: Keeping Produce Safe to Eat
It seems that everywhere we turn, the news is full of toxic spinach, spoiled green onions, tainted carrot juice, and more. Are fruits and vegetables safe to eat? This morning, I talked about keeping produce safe on our continuing Today Show series "From Farm to Fork: What Can Consumer's Do to Prevent Food-Borne Illness?". Let me first reassure you that the food supply is very safe, and that while there are isolated incidents of illness from fruits and veggies, this is no reason to cut down consumption. Produce should remain a regular part of a healthy diet. Don't be afraid - be a careful, and informed consumer to keep your produce intake up, and stay healthy. A few easy tips, and you'll have greater confidence that your risk of food-related illness is minimized. I'd love to hear your own strategies for keeping food safe at home
Healthy people can readily fend off a lot of food-borne illnesses; that's biology and what all animals do. Some people are at greater risk, who can't bioloigcally defend themselves. This include the very young (infants/toddlers/young children), the elderly, and people with a chronic illness resulting in a poorly functioning immune system. Thnk about things we do naturally - when something smells bad, we throw it out; when it looks moldy or off color, we toss it. Good thinking. But the food supply is more complicated nowadays. We eat out constantly, purchase prepared foods, including a lot of convenient "pre-bagged: vegetables and fruits. Does this put us at greater risk for getting sick? There is a lot of debate on exactly this issue. While the FDA says that the problem is not exclusively related to the bagged products, we all have that bagged spinach in mind when we think about E-coli (bacterial) contamination. It's important to point out that even with that particular recall, almost all spinach on the supermarket shelves was safe to eat - both bagged and loose - but all products were voluntarily pulled off the shelves as a safety measure. This provided even more confusion to the consumer.
While we have little control at the farm and production level, there are a few easy things to do at home, to ensure produce safety. Here are some of my favorites. Do you have some to add? You can't have too many, as far as I am concerned.
- Wash your hands - not a quick splash with some water; but soap and water scrubbing for about 15-20 seconds really reduces bacteria on your hands.
- Wash your produce - under a stream of clean water to reduce bacteria.
- Get a refrigerator thermometer and make sure it's 40 degrees or lower. The "cold" or "colder" setting is useless.
- Check the expiration date on bagged produce - toss at the date; produce can "look" okay, but put you at risk.
- Separate raw and cooked foods - make sure raw meats are bagged, so they don't drip onto produce in your fridge. Keep them separate on the kitchen counter and cutting boards.
- Try a paper plate, or wax paper as a disposable cutting board - or run yours through the dishwasher.
- Use paper towels or cloth towels (into the washing machine afterwards) for the countertops.
- Wash sponges thoroughly with hot soapy water, or run them through the dishwasher. Replace at least weekly.
- Cooking kills bacteria - active boiling can help..
- Throw out severely bruised or discolored produce.
- Scrub edible skins with a stiff vegetable brush
- Switch to a clean knife when peeling a melon or other fruits or vegetables, before cutting into the flesh. It's easy to spread bacteria on the skin to the edible inside.
I think common sense is the most important tool we all can use here. Clean hands, cold fridge, and effective cleaning and handling of produce at home are the easiest ways to ensure safe consumption.
Comments
Dr. Fernstrom,
In this world of endless outsourcing and global supply chains, is it safe to presume that our produce or poultry or meat is coming from outside the US? For example, produce from various Latin countries?
Are there ways to identify this? Are they less safe than products raised or grown in the US? Does the FDA have any measures in place to ensure food coming from outside the US is safe?
As someone who eats a lot of fruit and vegetables, I would be very curious to know your take on the matter.
Thanks!
This is such an important question. Regulations are different for produce and meats coming from other countries, but the fundamentals of safe food handling stay the same. You can enjoy oranges from Spain, melons from Mexico, and apples from New Zealand. All products are labeled with their country of origin - if not observed on the package in the market, ask the produce manager, or store owner for the source - they always know! So, the answer to your question is a resounding YES. Foods coming from outside the US are safe; but remember, ALL foods will have some bacteria on them, as we all do on our hands - but we can minimize the amount, giving us a much lower risk of any food borne illness.
I drink the MONA-VIE fruit drink.
www.mymonavie.com/kelleher It is a great drink for people of all ages. Mona-Vie has 19 fruits and berries in it. It also has the ACAE berry from the Amazon (Rain Forest)in it.
Only 25 Calories per oz. We take 2 ozs. a day. Safe also for diabetes. Please check out my site for better health. My arthritis is better and I sleep so much better.
My husband and I also drink Monavie daily. As Marlene stated, it is a blend of 19 fruits, the main being the Acai berry -- straight from the Amazon. It also contains apricot, aronia, acerola, purple grape, passion fruit, camu camu, banana, lychee fruit, nashi pear, kiwi, pomegranate, prune, wolfberry, pear, bilberry, cranberry, blue berry and white grape -- ALL IN ONE SERVING!
No more tossing fruit because we didn't eat it quick enough!
Feel free to visit www.mymonavie.com/deam for additional information.
It's a bit tired coming here for helpful health hints and reading solicitations random people post hocking their products.
SORRY AARON,
THEY WERE TRYING TO SHARE THEIR GOOD HEALTH WITH YOU. MAYBE YOU HAVE A BETTER STORY TO SHARE.
TOM
As a mom of three growing children I found that when I would buy produce before we could consume it the produce would go bad. Doesnât surprise me seeing as how everything goes bad before you can eat it nowadays. Even if I would juice the produce it did not taste as fresh as the day I brought it home. I researched the reason and found that there is device that works in your refrigerator that will help prolong the shelf life of organic produce plus it kills bacteria. It is the best thing I have ever owned and I think everyone should own one. I found it at www.orderminimate.com its called the Mini Mate.I have had mine for over 60 days and it has already saved me $20.00 which is a fraction of what I paid for it. Has anyone else use this before?
here is a good web site www.acihealthinfo.com, got it from a friend that is a big fan of Monavie. If your interested in further info contact them at their web site mymonavie.com/dwatson
yours in good health,
Dinae
I also drink Monavie and love the fruit drink. I want to tell the world, that this product really works.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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