Make Sure You Thoroughly Wash All Produce As Foodborne Pathogens Rise in USA

Giving fresh fruits and veggies a pre-dinner bath is not just beauty treatment to give produce a fresh, clean look: it’s a health measure that can save you from serious stomach illnesses that can sometimes lead to hospitalization or even death as food borne illnesses are on the rise nationally.

Blame a booming international trade in produce plus increasingly potent food-borne pathogens such as salmonella for the new dangers that can bring the problem to your own dinner plate.

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm or cold water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC estimates that 48 million Americans, one in six , fall victim to foodborne illness every year. About 3,000 die annually while 128,000 people end up in the hospital.

And the problem shows no sign of abating. In October, onions were identified as the likely source of an E. coli outbreak at McDonald’s that sickened at least 75 people and was blamed for the death of one person. In November, the FDA recalled bunches of fresh cucumbers connected to more than 60 cases of salmonella in 26 states including New York. And on Dec. 13, Brooklyn-based New Age International Inc. issued a nationwide recall for all 200g packages of Daily Veggies Enoki Mushroom sold from October to November of 2024, urging consumers to either destroy the products immediately or return them to the place of purchase for a full refund due to the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

More than one-third of all stomach upset due to produce can be traced to the now-ubiquitous salad bars where bean sprouts are a repeat offender, and lettuce alone may account for nearly one in five of all fresh fruit and veggie troubles, the CDC estimates.

Mayo Clinic Registered Dietitian April Verdi notes that salt water is a cheap and effective wash for vegetables. Her directions: “Mix 1 tablespoon of salt with ½ cup of water in a spray bottle and spray the vegetables. Then, rub and rinse well under water. Afterwards, dry the produce with a paper towel.” As she noted: One study comparing tap water, diluted vinegar, produce spray, and salt water found that salt water was best at removing pesticides.

Now for some simple steps that keep your produce clean and you safe:

First: When shopping at the market, obviously pass up bruised or moldy produce as well as any with nicks in the skin that, no matter how tiny they seem, might have let microorganism into the flesh.

Second: Separate leafy vegetables and wash each leaf under running water. That goes for packaged greens as well as fresh ones, even those with label claiming to have been washed and maybe dunked in a chorine solution.

Third: Wash berries and grapes under swiftly running water.

Fourth: Wash “soft” produce with skins such as apples, avocados, and the rest thoroughly before slicing so your clean knife doesn’t push any bacteria on the skin inside the flesh. And it couldn’t hurt to rinse off a banana before peeling.

Fifth: Scrub each and every hard-rind individual fruit and veggie such as melons and oranges with a brush reserved specifically to get any dirt particles the water didn’t remove.

After that, if a dining guest list includes a very young child, a very old adult, or anyone of any age with a compromised immune system– each of whom is more sensitive to food-borne illness–consider turning on the stove. As with poultry, meat and eggs, cooking fruits and veggies thoroughly–which means to an internal temp of 160° F – is expected to disarm any lingering bugs.

And one more thing: Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm or cold water before, during, and after preparing food and before eating, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Note: If you’re fortunate enough to have a country getaway and do your own gardening, the Cornell Good Agricultural Practices Program’s multi-page pamphlet “Food Safety Begins On The Farm” is just what the gardener ordered. Check it out at https://www.canr.msu.edu/foodsystems/uploads/files/food-safety-begins-on-the-farm.pdf For additional copies : (607) 254-5383 or E-mail: eab38@cornell.edu.