Latest news with #StopFoodborneIllness
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
There are a lot of reasons to wash your fruits and vegetables before eating them. But how bad is it if you forget?
You've just gotten home from the grocery store with some fresh strawberries. You set them down in the kitchen and walk away for a moment, only to come back and find your kids have already started eating the berries — without washing them first. Suddenly, headlines about E. coli and salmonella pop into your head. Are they doomed to get sick? Just how bad is it to skip washing your produce? And do you really need to wash all fruits and veggies? Here's what experts say about why we make such a big deal about washing produce — and the best ways to do it. Ideally, yes. 'As long as you're using potable (drinkable) water, it's always wise to wash fruits and vegetables before eating them,' Sandra Eskin, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness, tells Yahoo Life. 'Even if they appear clean, they may still carry dirt, bacteria or residues.' Melissa Vaccaro, senior food safety program specialist for the National Environmental Health Association, adds that unless your produce is packaged with a pre-washed label, the assumption is that the consumer should wash it. "This would apply to all produce, even if you are not eating the peel or rind,' she tells Yahoo Life. The only exception to this? Bananas. That's because you can usually peel a banana without really touching the inside. But for most other produce, the act of peeling or cutting can cause contamination in the edible parts. For example, Eskin points to a case in which cantaloupes were linked to a salmonella outbreak when bacteria from the soil contaminated the rind. Experts agree that while a couple bites of unwashed fruit probably won't make you sick every time, it does increase your odds of ingesting microorganisms that can make you seriously ill. 'These can range from Staphylococcus aureus [staph], which is ubiquitous, to E. coli from poor farming practices,' says food scientist Bryan Quoc Le. 'Natural dirt and debris increase these risks because they harbor microbes much more than just the surfaces of foods." According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly half of all food-borne illnesses can be attributed to produce, with leafy vegetables the biggest culprit. Additionally, about 46% of those illnesses were caused by norovirus. Vaccaro says additional pathogens associated with produce outbreaks include Listeria monocytogenes, cyclospora, the hepatitis A virus and campylobacter. Eskin says sprouts, in particular, pose a higher risk for bacteria like salmonella and E. coli. While washing helps, she says the safest way to consume them is by cooking them thoroughly. 'These findings do not mean that you should not eat produce but instead confirm that we must take care with handling and consuming our produce,' adds Vaccaro. Vaccaro says that produce grown in the U.S. is considered safer than some imports due to stricter regulations, better enforcement and more frequent testing. She points to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2023 annual summary report of their Pesticide Data Program, which revealed that over 99% of samples tested had residues below the tolerances established by the EPA, with 38.8% having no detectable residue. "Pesticide residues are certainly a concern, but less so since almost all produce is given a preliminary wash after harvest to remove the majority of dirt and debris," Quoc Le says. But that doesn't mean you won't be ingesting some residue now and again, including from imported produce. Concerned consumers can opt to buy organic when choosing certain fruits and veggies — especially spinach, grapes and others included in the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) "Dirty Dozen," aka produce shown to carry the most pesticide residue. They can also avoid or replace certain fruits and veggies altogether, though our experts mostly suggest simply eating a variety of properly washed fruits and veggies. Food scientist Abbey Thiel says she's less concerned about pesticide exposure and more motivated by the issue of food waste in the U.S., fueled in part by Americans letting their fruits and vegetables go bad. By washing her produce, she reduces the amount of spoilage bacteria and can extend the shelf life of her fruits and vegetables. "This would be my main reason to tell people to wash and then dry their fresh produce,' Thiel tells Yahoo Life. Here are a few tips from our experts on best produce-washing practices: Always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds prior to washing, cutting or peeling your produce Use cold water to rinse all produce for just a few seconds Scrub root vegetables and other thick-skinned produce (like melons and cucumbers) with a soft vegetable brush to reduce exposure to bacteria (or at least rub them thoroughly with your hands) To clean leafy greens, submerge them in water, drain and rinse Rinse berries using a colander If you want to be more thorough, you can use either of these DIY cleansers: 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 2 cups of water, soak for 10-15 minutes, then rinse 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water, soak for 5-10 minutes, then rinse If you're washing your produce with the intent of helping it last longer, do it sooner rather than later. 'To reduce the number of spoilage microorganisms, I would wash fresh produce right after purchasing it,' says Thiel. 'This will give you longer to eat your fresh fruits and vegetables.' However, she and other experts say the most important part is to thoroughly dry your produce after washing. Skip drying them out properly, and your fruits and veggies will get wilted, mushy and moldy much faster. Experts also recommend storing all washed produce in a breathable container with a dry paper towel to reduce moisture buildup. 'If you wash greens ahead of time, spin them dry and store them with a dry paper towel to reduce moisture buildup," Thiel adds. There are a couple of exceptions, though. Quoc Le says raspberries and mushrooms can easily get waterlogged, so it's best to wash these just before eating. Experts agree that commercially made produce washes aren't really any more effective at cleaning than plain tap water. Vaccaro says if you're worried about waxes or extra residue, DIY produce washes like the ones above are just fine. And while some have made the mistake of using soap to wash their produce during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, food safety experts say this is a big no-no, as is the use of bleach.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The Trump administration's approach to food safety is tough to swallow
It's been nearly 20 years, but during George W. Bush's second term, historian Rick Perlstein coined a memorable phrase: 'E. coli conservatism.' The slogan coincided with a rash of food safety controversies that were tied to lax governmental safeguards. The point of the phrase, of course, was to convey a larger policy point: When government pulls back on regulations that protect the public, there are often hazardous consequences. (Though the video is no longer online, The Rachel Maddow Show had a great segment on this back in 2011, which I wrote about before I joined the team.) Years later, there's another Republican administration with some risky ideas about food safety, and by any fair measure, it appears 'E. coli conservatism' has mutated into something even worse. The Washington Post reported: Two federal committees tasked with advising policymakers on food safety have been disbanded as part of the administration's cost-cutting and government-shrinking goals, according to advocates and one committee member. The elimination of the panels, whose members included experts from academia, industry and nonprofits, has raised alarms among some food-safety advocates, who point to large-scale outbreaks in recent years as a reason for needing even more attention and modern science around the issue. The Post's report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, comes on the heels of related reporting from The New York Times, which noted that the Trump administration eliminated the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection. The reports noted that the panels have been working on everything from identifying foodborne pathogens to examining contamination of powdered infant formula. Efforts such as these, however, will apparently now end. Brian Ronholm, the director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said in a statement, 'The termination of these two important advisory committees is very alarming and should serve as a warning to consumers that food safety will not be a priority at U.S.D.A. in the foreseeable future.' Sandra Eskin, CEO of the advocacy group Stop Foodborne Illness, added, 'Without the input of these committees, we have little confidence that the food safety policies at USDA and FDA will, in fact, Make America Healthy Again.' The good news is these developments should only matter to Americans who eat food. The bad news is that's literally everyone. This news out of the Department of Agriculture dovetails with related news from the Department of Health and Human Services, which recently sent out emails asking most of its workforce to consider an offer to quit their jobs in exchange for $25,000. The list included food inspection workers at the FDA. And did I mention that the Trump administration appointed Donald Trump Jr.'s hunting buddy to serve to the FDA's Human Foods Program, overseeing all nutrition and food safety activities? Because that happened, too. His predecessor, Jim Jones, resigned last month, citing misguided firings across the agency. 'I was looking forward to working to pursue the department's agenda of improving the health of Americans by reducing diet-related chronic disease and risks from chemicals in food,' Jones said in his resignation letter. He added that the Republican administration was showing 'disdain for the very people' needed to make these changes. I suspect many Americans who supported the GOP ticket last fall didn't realize they were voting to scrap the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods and the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection, but that's what they're getting. This article was originally published on
