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Keep Your Fruits and Vegetables Safe During the Holidays

KNOXVILLE, Dec 10, 2004 —

We’ve all read or heard about the safe preparation of turkeys and hams to avoid food poisoning, particularly during the hectic holiday season.

Meat and poultry should be cooked to recommended temperatures between 165 and 180 degrees depending on the type of meat.

But according to Ann Draughon, co-director of the University of Tennessee Food Safety Center of Excellence, we should be just as careful when preparing fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Most people associate food-borne illness with improperly cooked foods of animal origin, but the fact is, the number of people getting sick from eating fruits and vegetables contaminated with pathogens has doubled since 1990.”

According to the congressional General Accounting Office, an estimated 20 to 25 percent of annual food illness cases are caused by vegetables and fruits . Meat, poultry, pork and eggs still cause about 40 to 45 percent of illnesses. Seafood and cheeses also account for a large percentage of food- borne illnesses.

What is food-borne illness? Food-borne disease is caused by consuming foods or beverages contaminated with disease-causing microbes–called pathogens–poisonous chemicals or other harmful substances that can cause illness if they are present in food and consumed.

Pathogens are varied, and those found in fruit and vegetables have included Escherichia coli O157: H7 in apple juice, Salmonella on vegetables, and Cyclospora and hepatitis A virus on produce.

“Fruits and vegetables an important part of a healthy diet,” says Draughon, “But they can support pathogens that could make you ill.

While cooking produce would kill most bacteria, many vegetables are preferred raw. More and more Americans are enjoying the year-round availability of fruits and vegetables harvested internationally. About 20 to 80 percent of certain types of produce are imported into the U.S. from other countries, especially in the winter months.

Draughon suggests following these simple suggestions to reduce the risk contracting a food-borne illness from produce this holiday season:

• Wash fruits and vegetables carefully under cool, running water using a brus h to remove surface soil. Do not use detergents because they may leave harmful residues.
• Remove and discard the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage. Wash each lettuce leaf under running water. Scrub melons thoroughly. Do not clean by submerging the entire head of lettuce, melon or other fruits and vegetables in water. You may just be rinsing in contaminated water.
• Sprays and washes that claim to clean fruits and vegetables may remove pesticide residues but do not to remove microorganisms.
• Beware of contaminating foods while slicing them on the cutting board. Bacteria can grow well on the cut surface of many fruit s and vegetable s. Be especially careful with melons. Avoid leaving cut produce at room temperature for many hours. Keep them refrigerated. Use a separate cutting board for produce and raw meat products. Boards must be sanitized by soaking in a bleach solution or using heat in the dishwasher.
• Don't be a source of pathogens yourself. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before preparing food and between handling raw and ready- to- eat foods. Avoid preparing food if you have a diarrheal illness. Changing a baby’s diaper during food preparation is a bad idea and can easily spread illness if hands are not washed thoroughly.

“The major cause of food poisoning is improper handling by the preparer,” Draughon says. “Poor sanitation – specifically, unwashed hands– is a major cause of food-borne illness.”

And there is one food Draughon suggests that many people avoid altogether: sprouts.

“Sprouts are grown in warm, moist conditions perfect for bacterial cultivation,” she says. “ We have not yet been successful in finding methods to disinfect seeds used for sprouts without harming the seed . Because sprouts have been associated with outbreaks caused by Salmonella and E. coli, children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems should avoid eating them.”

The University of Tennessee Food Safety Center of Excellence is among the top national university programs with the resources to tackle food safety issues from farm to fork. The Center is poised to help the state and nation deal with public health hazards emerging from food-related industries.

The Center’s major efforts include: developing new processing methods to reduce the occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in foods; improving the detection of food-borne pathogens; studying the epidemiology of food-borne diseases; reducing the occurrence of food-borne illness and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in foods; controlling diseases in food-producing animals; and reducing environmental contamination during animal production and food processing.

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Contact:

Linda Cabage, (865) 974-7141
Ann Draughon, (865) 974-7425

Original news item at:
http://agriculture.tennessee.edu/news/releases/0411-fruits.htm.