Handle with care

What you should know about food-borne illnesses, your produce and how to protect yourself

December 18, 2003|By Bill Hogan/ Tribune file.

An increasing number of food-borne illnesses are being linked to raw produce, including recent hepatitis A outbreaks.

That doesn't mean consumers should shy away from fresh fruits and vegetables, food safety experts and nutritionists say.

The risks of contracting a food-borne illness from eating fruits and vegetables are low. But knowing what's causing some of the outbreaks, and whether you belong to a group at higher risk of food-borne illness, may affect what you choose to eat and how it's prepared.

Washing and peeling vegetables and fruits are important steps. But that may not be enough.

Several factors are causing more people to get sick after eating raw produce. More people are at risk than before because they have weaker immune systems due to age (young children and those over age 60), pregnancy, organ transplants, chemotherapy or diseases such as AIDS.

Americans eat more produce than they once did, and more of it raw.

New and more powerful germs have emerged, including E. coli, which has been implicated in a number of produce-related illnesses. More produce is imported, which means the potential for contaminants that Americans have little exposure to and immunity against, such as the hepatitis A virus. A Food and Drug Administration survey of 1,000 samples of produce also showed 4.4 percent of the imported products were contaminated, about three times the level of domestic produce.

Once produce has been contaminated, it's difficult to sanitize it thoroughly. Washing and keeping produce at the proper temperature are consumers' major defenses against food-borne illness.

But even washing may not help. Some items linked to outbreaks in the past few years--raspberries, cantaloupe, green onions--are difficult to clean thoroughly and are commonly eaten raw.

The best defense, food safety experts say, is to prevent contamination. That leads back to the farm, and also includes processors, wholesalers and retailers. Produce can be contaminated in a number of ways, including sewage-contaminated irrigation water and improper holding temperatures that encourage bacteria to multiply to high enough levels to cause human illness.

It's also one of the areas that is easiest to fix and to check for compliance, say those who work with farmers.

Wash it well

Take extra care washing:

- Lettuce, spinach and leafy vegetables that grow close to the ground, where it's easier to come in contact with contaminated fertilizer or water.

- Berries (Have numerous surface crevices where bacteria can hide.)

- Cantaloupe (Has a mottled surface that's difficult to clean thoroughly.) Use a vegetable brush. After cutting and serving, refrigerate promptly. Bacteria multiply quicker on cantaloupe than on many other types of produce.

- Parsley, cilantro and basil (Have been linked to food-borne illnesses.) FDA surveys of domestic and imported produce showed parsley and cilantro among produce most likely to carry germs.

It's a fact

An FDA survey of 1,000 samples of produce showed 4.4 percent of the imported products were contaminated.

