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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It’s summer, the most bountiful season for fresh fruits and vegetables — early corn, cherries, blueberries, watermelon, peaches, kirby cucumbers and mouthwatering tomatoes. It is also the time of year when produce scares are more likely to occur. Spinach and tomatoes were in the news not that long ago. Many of you may be wondering how to eat these great products without risking illness.
Some of you may be saying, if I can risk getting sick from fresh produce, why not simply stop eating it. First, these are great tasting foods. But, even more important they are nature’s powerhouses brimming with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are compounds that naturally occur in plants that promote eye, bone and heart health while supporting your brain function and enhancing your immune system to protect you against disease. Many of the phytonutrients are found in the natural pigments that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant color – beta carotene in carrots and sweet potatoes, lutein in spinach and kale, ellagic acid in strawberries and raspberries, and beta-cryptoxanthin in papaya and oranges.
Okay, let’s get back to safely eating these foods. Understand that germs are equal opportunity invaders. They don’t respect the price of an item, what country it came from, the size of the farm, and whether the produce is organic or conventionally farmed. What germs do fear is proper handling, storage and sanitation. It is the strength of the food chain from farm to table that keeps fresh fruits and vegetables safe. Your kitchen is the end of that chain and just as important as the farmer who grew the food.
When we look back at recent food contamination episodes some interesting facts emerge. Both local and broad distribution channels are equally safe. This means your apples can be shipped across the country or grown at a local farm, distance traveled does not impact on food contamination. This says something about the overall safety of our food transport system.
Neither small farms nor mega farms are more likely to have contamination problems. Both are equally safe or equally vulnerable to problems. What many do not realize is that larger branded produce companies often contract for much of their produce from smaller independent farms. Small amounts of acreage can account for large crop yield. One acre can produce fresh tomatoes worth over $12,000. Just 82 acres of fresh tomatoes can have farm sales in excess of $1 million dollars.
And, US grown and imported produce are equally safe. Both FDA records and anecdotal evidence shows that imported fruits and vegetables are just as safe as home grown. Under the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, the FDA, which monitors most produce imports, requires advance notice before shipments can arrive at one of our 300 ports of entry into the US. Currently, the FDA is using a new tracking system, PREDICT, to manage scheduling, sampling and oversights of food imports. Approximately 20% of imported vegetables and 12% of fruits are refused entry into the US. These include both processed and fresh produce and usually result from sanitary or pesticide violations.
Regardless of how many safety checks are initiated in the food chain from farm to table, you remain the last link in protecting your family’s health. Since 1997 Fight Bac!, a government, public health, consumer partnership to combat foodborne illness has been providing safe food handling tips. Recently, in conjunction with the Produce Marketing Association they have initiated a safe produce program.
Check, clean, separate, cook, chill and throw away are the core message to safe handling of fruits and vegetables.
Check – Don’t buy bruised or damaged fruits and vegetables, even if they are cheaper. Don’t buy precut or bagged items that are not refrigerated.
Clean – Rinse fruits and vegetables under tap water. Clean skins and rinds so that surface dirt does not transfer when cut. Don’t reuse knives and cutting boards for multiple foods. Take new utensils or clean with soap and water between foods. Wash your hands after handling fresh fruits and vegetables.
Don’t wash bagged produce. Rewashing at home can actually cause contamination. Triple washed or cleaned and cut items can simply be used right from the package.
Separate – Keep fresh fruits and vegetables away from raw meat and household cleaners in the shopping cart and when you bag the food to take home. Do the same at home.
Cook – Or throw away any fruits or vegetables that have touched raw meat, fish, poultry or their juices.
Chill – All cut, peeled or cooked fruits or vegetables.
Throw away — When in doubt, throw out any fruits and vegetables that have not been refrigerated after cutting, are damaged or bruised, show signs of spoiling, or have been contaminated by other potentially harmful products, like cleaning supplies.
Keep the safe food handling chain intact at home.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales of more than 8.5 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.
Current titles include:
The Diabetes Counter, 4th Ed., 2011
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Calorie Counter, 5th Ed., 2010
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2009
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to TheNutritionExperts
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