Food Safety Tips for Fresh Produce
The recent E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks have taught us that fresh produce is not as safe as we thought it was. There was a time when consumers felt better buying produce grown in California instead of Chile or another country. How wrong we all were.
Even though there is now a known risk of foodborne illness when eating fresh produce, most of us are going to keep eating it. Here are some tips that may help keep your family safe.
Buying Tips for Fresh Produce
Source: Some of the information above is from the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
Even though there is now a known risk of foodborne illness when eating fresh produce, most of us are going to keep eating it. Here are some tips that may help keep your family safe.
Buying Tips for Fresh Produce
- Buy produce that is not bruised or damaged. Apples that are damaged or bruised may have been harvested off of the ground (apples that have fallen off of the tree). These apples are more likely to be contaminated with E. coli.
- Buy pre-cut (freshcut) and processed produce only if it is well refrigerated or surrounded by ice. Once produce is cut, it is much more susceptible to contamination with a foodborne pathogen. Refrigeration inhibits the growth of foodborne bacteria.
- Keep fresh produce apart from meat, poultry and seafood in the shopping cart and when you bag them up to take home.
- Keep in mind that shopping carts and conveyor belts can be contaminated with foodborne pathogens. Any liquid on the conveyor belt may have come from raw meat.
- Almost all fresh fruits and vegetables (particularly strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) can be best maintained by storing in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below. The refrigeration will help the produce stay fresh and inhibit the growth of foodborne bacteria. Tomatoes lose their flavor if refrigerated, so eat them soon after buying them.
- All pre-cut, peeled, or otherwise processed produce has to be refrigerated.
- Keep your refrigerator at 40° F or below (if it is too cold ice crystals will form on the produce, which will cause the produce to spoil). You may want to use a fridge thermometer.
- ALWAYS RE-WASH PRE-WASHED PRODUCE. The FDA maintains that pre-washed (“ready-to-use”) produce does not need to be re-washed. The FDA is wrong. Commercial pre-washing does not use friction to help wash away pathogens from folds and crevices. Also, pre-washed produce can be contaminated after the commercial washing process. At the risk of being redundant, wash all produce right before you eat it, without exception.
- For most produce, use friction when washing, either by rubbing the produce with your hands or using a vegetable brush.
- Keep fruits and vegetables that will be eaten raw separate from other foods such as raw meat, poultry or seafood - and from kitchen utensils used for those products.
- Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils and counter tops with hot water and soap between the preparation of raw meat, poultry and seafood products and the preparation of produce that will not be cooked.
- For added protection, kitchen sanitizers can be used on cutting boards and counter tops periodically. Try a solution of one teaspoon of chlorine bleach to one quart of water.
- If you use plastic or other non-porous cutting boards, run them through the dishwasher after use.
Source: Some of the information above is from the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.