The folks at foodsafety.gov have come up with tips for produce safety. It is not anything new and the tips are basically what is dictated by sound common sense. As vegetarians, we do not need to worry about safety of meat, mercury in fish, egg safety and other issues that torment meat eaters :-)
For us to safely practice vegetarianism, we only need to mostly worry about vegetables and fruits and I decided to cover the tips preached by the food safety website on produce safety. The tips are divided into three categories:
1. Buying Tips
2. Storage Tips
3 Preparation Tips
Essentially one should buy produce that is not damaged, bruised, crushed, getting spoiled, or otherwise looks or feels like it is a goner :-) I never buy half-cut water melons that are wrapped in some plastic. Take care when you buy bananas, avocado, spinach, lettuce etc.
It is a good idea to refrigerate produce that is purchased pre-cut or peeled. Other than potatoes, onions, bananas and a handful of other items, I usually refrigerate most produce. Store perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) at a temperature of 40° F or below.
The preparation tips from the food safety website really take the cake. It asks all wannabe cooks to begin food preparation with clean hands. Washing hands is defined as allowing for 20 seconds of rinsing with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce. I assume that most of us would wash our hands thoroughly before preparing food.
All produce should be thoroughly washed before eating. I typically spray vegetable wash and then wash fruits and vegetables under running water just before eating, cutting or cooking. I discard any produce that looks damaged or otherwise dicey to feed my family. While the food safety website does not recommend using produce washes, I use a mild organic kind that has no chemicals. Dry the produce and then cook, peel, do whatever you got to do to eat.
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Tips for Fresh Produce Safety
Our Government says that Fruits and Veggies Matter
CDC has an excellent website on fruits and vegetables called fruits and vegetables matter. CDC encourages everyone to get a healthy dose of fruits. Fruits and vegetables are sources of many vitamins, minerals and other natural substances that may help protect you from chronic diseases, they say, and we at booaah completeluy agree.
On their website, CDC has a section called fruits and vegetables of the month. For the month of December, the fruit of the month are exotic fruits, namely, Kumquat, Sapote, Uglie Fruit, Pepino Melon, and Cherimoya. Well at least CDC likes one of the exotic fruits on my top ten list of exotic fruits, the Sapote (Sapota or Chiku). Incorporating some of the exotic fruits into one's diet will neatly fit into the vegetarian MyPyramid plan.
Sapote is grown only in Florida and California within the United States. This fruit is a native of Mexico but some varieties are also grown in parts of Asia and South America. While Sapota stores at room temperature, it ripes quickly within 3 - 5 days. Sapote has soft orange flesh and has a sweet, mild flavor. Sapotes vary in size from that of a lime to an apple or orange and are bright green or brown in color. There is even Sapota flavored ice cream now available.
