Tips for Fresh Produce Safety

Friday, December 4, 2009

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.