http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-safe-is-your-salad.html
How Safe is Your Salad?
By Martha Miller, Positively Green magazine
Despite years of regulation, don’t trust your greens just yet.
In the past 35 years, the United States has seen a substantial increase in fresh, leafy green vegetables being contaminated with disease-causing bacteria and the increase isn’t entirely because more people are eating more salads.
A report presented at the 2008 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases found that since 1973, there have been 10,421 food outbreaks, some 500 of which came from leafy-green vegetables. Most were contaminated with norovirus, followed by salmonella and E. coli. More than 60 percent of the outbreaks involved contamination by germs spread by humans.
From 1986 to 1995, Americans ate about 17 percent more leafy greens than they did the decade before. Yet the proportion of food-borne illnesses caused by leafy greens went up almost 60 percent. From 1996 through 2005, consumption increased another 9 percent and the proportion of illnesses linked to greens increased 39 percent.
Remember these safety tips when handling leafy greens or other produce:
• First, wash your hands with warm water and soap.
• Cut away any damaged or bruised areas before preparing.
• Wash all fruits and vegetables under running water or use a spray nozzle. Do this for produce bought at the grocery store, grown at home, or at a local farmer’s market.
• Rub produce with your hands or a scrub brush to remove any lingering bacteria. Even if you plan to peel the fruit, it’s important to still clean it.
• Gently dry produce with a clean cloth towel or paper towel.
For more information or to subscribe at the introductory price of $10 a year, go to positivelygreen.com. Positively Green magazine launched in 2008 as a quarterly women’s magazine that covers every aspect of green from eco-friendly vacations to green fashion to green health. With articles that don’t just explain the problems, they outline solutions for busy people who want to make the change but don’t have the time to research solutions.
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28 comments
add your comment »Pauline, If what you say is real, You are so lucky in Australia! This is what governments should impose seriously in each and every country, but a pitty it is not so one more (among so extremely many) reason why so many people have health problems
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I eat out at least once a month and have never had problems with restaurants and food. We have high food preparation standards here (Australia) and the Health Dept reguarly check restaurants.
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It is so hard though when you are out workforce and the social circle in your office has the habit of eating out once a week... I am running out of "excuses" for not going with them and I've become sorta isolated from the rest, the "branded" one... from antisocial to weird to who knows what else...I still go out maybe every couple of months and try to be so careful at what I order but still feel uneasy just thinking about what's going on in those kitchens at restaurants. I wish I can enjoy those outings but I don't when I'm too paranoid or scared of getting sick. And when I try to recommend a healthy place the all look at me like I'm from another planet... geeze... anyway...I'm glad I'm not the only having all these feelings about eating out.
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Keep your immune system strong and there's little to fear from bacteria for the most part. Stay away from processed foods, take a good quality probiotic, get plenty of rest & sunshine, you know the drill...
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I agreewith Maha H. Eating out is the cause of most infections.
Kelly´s directions about how to handle vegetables before eating them is what I have been doing all my life, taught by my ancestors. Most of us in Spain know about the importance of washing yourself 1st and then place vegetables in salt water and then rinse them at least 2 times and then eat them or cook them.
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I agree with Mars..yes avoid eating salad out..in fact i always try to avoid eating out...no body knows what's going on inside restaurant's kitchen...
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Salad is not the enemy, people and their germs are! esp if a salad is prepared on a wooden chopping board where meat has been prepared as well.. Most people are generally clueless about personal hygiene so best to avoid eating out as you really don't know who is preparing your food behind the scenes !
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Hello! After farming for years, I have yet to contract any bacterial,viral or fungal caused illness from my produce. The inseticides and fertilizers aren't going to cause you as much harm as you think,IF the fresh produce you eat comes solely from American farms with a stake in the market! Most of the illness outbreaks are cause by unhygenic handling(people WITH the illness as carriers, and foreign nations with no compunction about sending whatever thay have to offer any way they can get it to our market. Folks, lots of diseases abound in places that are not America, so when you look for the bargain,just remember you may get MORE than you paid for.If you don't know then be aware now that Mexico and other countries can and do use pesticides that are banned in the U.S.A, so hopefully it all washes off.
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Eat organically! These contaminations occur with factory farming practices. They deplete our food of nutrients, poison our streams and ground water with fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides and destroy the soil. Its a no-brainer!
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In my case, Aaa, I don't worry as much about bacteria because in spite of 50 odd years of eating salads everywhere, and in great quantities, I have yet to get sick from one. I know there's always a first time, but I refuse to start looking at salad as an enemy.
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