Prevent Food Poisoning

Food Borne illness can be very harmful to one’s health. Better known as food poisoning, it gives you major gastric discomfort like cramping and diarrhea and it can even hospitalize someone if it’s a serious enough case. It’s most commonly linked to bad meat like chicken, burgers or eggs; however the most common but unknown source of this bacterial spread is from fresh produce like salad greens, vegetables and even “additive” ingredients at restaurants- like scallions and small pieces of peppers. Just this past summer, we had an outbreak of Salmonella, which was supposedly from bad tomatoes. Since the United States so greatly utilizes nationwide, coast-to-coast distribution of produce, outbreaks and the subsequent spreads of these outbreaks are hitting people all over our country. These nasty bacteria don’t discriminate- it doesn’t matter what state or geographical region the vegetables or fruits come from. If you’re doing your grocery shopping at larger national stores, you are at risk for food borne illness even if the food originated many states away.

Although the FDA is responsible for keeping the country’s food supply safe, it’s your responsibility to wash your fruits and veggies and do what you can at home to prevent consumption and spread of these bacteria. The FDA recommends that you thoroughly rinse all fruits and vegetables. A spray or detergent isn’t necessary for washing. Do scrub foods that have a thicker skin with a brush; examples would be potatoes, melons and cucumbers.

Germs can permeate through this thick skin and get into the meat of the fruit or vegetable. Try to buy your produce in season so it’s not traveling too far to get to you and you know it’s from a local source. Try to buy loose instead of packaged foods so you can look over and inspect the produce; only buy what you will eat so you avoid the chance of the food spoiling. You can’t control how the produce is handled from point of harvest to your grocer but you can do a few things yourself to prevent any food borne illness that may potentially be on the food.