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August
5, 2004
Prairie Fare:
Food Safety and Fresh Produce: A Growing Issue
By
Julie Garden-Robinson, Food and Nutrition Specialist
NDSU Extension Service
Sometimes
news reports about food-borne illness make you pause and wonder just what’s
safe to eat. Lately, if you’ve been following food safety news,
you might wonder if you dare to add a tomato slice to your sandwich.
In July, contaminated
tomatoes in deli sandwiches were linked to a salmonellosis outbreak in
several eastern states including Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.
In Pennsylvania alone, at least 110 people became sick.
Salmonella bacteria
usually cause flu-like symptoms including cramps, diarrhea and fever.
Most people will recover in a few days, but the illness can be life-threatening
among vulnerable groups like young children, the elderly and people with
weak immune systems.
While salmonella is
more commonly linked with poultry and meat, this is a good lesson for
all of us. Produce can be contaminated, so it must be handled safely to
help protect us and our families from illness.
Tomatoes are only
one item in a long line of produce linked with food-borne illness cases.
For example, raw sprouts and cantaloupe have been linked with salmonellosis
outbreaks.
Lettuce from grocery
stores and apple cider sold at roadside stands has been linked with E.
coli outbreaks. Green onions were associated with hepatitis A outbreaks
in restaurants in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Cooking or otherwise
heating produce will kill most bacteria and organisms. Since eating fresh
produce is popular, scientists are working on ways to improve produce
handling from garden to table.
Consider these produce
safety tips from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:
- Thoroughly rinse
raw fruits and vegetables under running water before eating them.
- Don’t use
soap, detergents or bleach solutions.
- If necessary,
use a small brush on melons and cucumbers to remove surface dirt.
- Cut away bruised
or damaged areas. This is where bacteria thrive.
- Serve only pasteurized
juice to children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
Look for a label stating the juice has been pasteurized.
- Avoid eating sprouts.
Bacteria can get into the seeds through cracks in the shell before the
sprouts are grown, so the bacteria are nearly impossible to remove by
washing.
- If buying fresh-cut
produce, be sure it is refrigerated or surrounded by ice at the store.
- At home, chill
produce that needs refrigeration soon after purchase.
- Wash hands thoroughly
and frequently before and after handling fresh produce, raw meat, poultry
or seafood and, of course, after using the bathroom, changing diapers
or handling pets.
- Avoid cross-contamination
by using clean cutting boards and utensils. Designate a separate cutting
board for produce and one for meat, poultry or fish.
Here’s a tasty
recipe to enjoy featuring green tomatoes.
Green Tomato Pie
8 medium green tomatoes,
sliced
1 apple, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp tapioca
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Pastry for a 2-crust 9 inch pie
Preheat oven to
400 ° F. In a bowl, make a mixture of sugar, tapioca and spices.
Wash and prepare tomatoes and apple. Arrange half the tomato and apple
slices in the bottom of the unbaked crust. Sprinkle half of the sugar
mixture over the layer. Arrange the remaining tomato and apple slices
as a top layer. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over this layer.
Dot with butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Place top crust on pie,
seal and flute the edges. Make some slits in the top for steam to escape.
Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 35 minutes or until crust is
golden and juices bubble through. Cool on rack for at least one hour.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
Makes 1 pie (8 servings).
Each serving has 350 calories, 14 grams of fat, 54 grams carbohydrate
and 2.6 grams of fiber.
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Source:
Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu
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