Your Newspaper - Your Health

Posted on: July 1, 2009

Wash Me

Cleaning fruits and vegetables is a must – even when shopping at a local farmer's market

By Bev Bennett
CTW Features

Eating fresh seasonal produce, whether it's from a farmers market, roadside stand, your back yard or the supermarket, is a rite of summer. Growers often encourage you to sample their just-picked fruits and vegetables.

Shunning these temptations is like avoiding candy during a chocolate factory tour.

But that's what you're supposed to do, according to food scientists.

"I don't recommend consuming produce directly at the farm market unless you know the farmer and how he handled the produce," says Sam Beattie, Ph.D., food safety extension specialist, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.

Don't sample the wares at the supermarket produce counter either, says Carl K. Winter, Ph.D., spokesperson for the Institute of Food Technologists.

You don't know who touched the fruits and vegetables.

"Regardless of the source consumers have to be vigilant," Winter says.

Pathogens in the soil or water, or resulting from poor worker hygiene might put you at risk for food-borne illness, according to a recent report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Despite these issues, the health benefits of eating more fruits and vegetables far outweigh the potential problems. You can also take steps to eliminate harmful bacteria on the produce you eat.

When you're shopping at a farmers market or farm stand, ask the farmer about his growing practices, says Beattie.

You don't want to deal with a farmer who recently fertilized a crop with manure, says the Iowa state food safety expert.

When you're stopping at a farm stand, ask the farmer whether and how he washed the fruit he's selling. If the produce was scrubbed with a gentle brush under cold running water, you're free to take a bite; otherwise, do the job yourself when you get home.

Your shopping habits also affect the safety of the produce you're buying.

Don't let fruits and vegetables sit in a hot car for hours.

"If your food has some microorganisms, the organisms could grow," says Winter, food toxicologist at the University of California, Davis.

He recommends either packing your produce in a cooler or bringing it home immediately. Don't wash your purchases before you refrigerate them, however.

"If you wash the produce when you get it home, the water will help the illness-causing bacteria to grow and cause rot at the same time. Wash produce just before you eat it," says Beattie.

You can skip the commercial washes.

In fact, the food safety experts advise against using detergents or bleaches.

"I haven't seen any data that [commercial produce washes] provide appreciable benefits," says Winter, who recently worked on a series of food safety videos for IFT.

Again, water and a food scrub brush are all you need.

For more tips on keeping food safe, check the free IFT videos at www.monkeysee.com. Search "Carl Winter Food Safety."

You can also find valuable advice on the government web site, www.foodsafety.gov.

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"