Keep Your Family Safe from Contaminated Foods
Spinach, peanut butter and cantaloupe have all caused scares in recent months, but experts say safe food is usually one good scrub away.
If last summer’s fresh spinach recall because of E. coli contamination isn’t on your mind, you may be concerned with the recent warnings about salmonella in peanut butter and imported cantaloupe sold in the U.S.
The risks of food-borne illness are real and can lead to serious medical complications, say health officials. But you can take steps to minimize the possibility that you or your loved ones will become ill from eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
Food safety experts are studying the recent outbreaks and offering new advice based on consumers’ changing ways of handling and preparing fresh produce. Some suggestions run counter to what you may have done in the past.
“What we learned [from food illness outbreaks] is that everything should be washed,” says Susan Moores, MS, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
Even bagged greens that say “washed” on the label should be washed again, according to Moores, who is in Minneapolis.
Not only will you rid spinach and lettuce of bacteria, but you’ll also refresh the greens, says Karen Blakeslee, extension associate with the Food Science Institute at Kansas State University in Manhattan.
If your definition of washing means holding fruits and vegetables under running water you need to take extra steps.
Before you even get started, clean your hands with soap and water. Scrub firm fruits and vegetables including potatoes and apples using a vegetable brush. Rub greens and delicate fruit, including strawberries, with your fingers, getting into all the crannies.
“You may not get rid of all bacteria, but will remove most,” says Blakeslee.
Don’t be tempted to skip this step when preparing melons with inedible rinds or skin. When you cut into a contaminated cantaloupe, you’re pushing the bacteria from the skin into the edible flesh.
You can decide whether removing edible skins of fruits and vegetables provides an additional safety measure. There is a downside to peeling.
“So many nutrients along with fiber are in the skin of the fruit. You’ll miss some nutrients if you peel,” says Moores.
You’re no doubt seeing anti-bacterial cleansing products for fruits and vegetables. Save your money, say the experts.
“There’s really no research that gives solid evidence that produce-cleansing agents are more effective than water,” says Blakeslee.
In addition to washing fruits and vegetables, you should become more aware of the source of your food, says Moores. She recommends shopping local farmers markets where the food is less handled than when it passes from farmers to packagers to shippers to supermarkets.
Bev Bennett, a veteran food writer and editor, is the author of "Dinner for Two: A Cookbook for Couples" and "30-Minute Meals for Dummies"
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