Saturday Share: Buying Produce

Like many people, you probably wonder if you should buy organic or the less-expensive “regular” produce.

Isn’t one just as good as the other?

Here’s an easy rule of thumb to follow. If you plan to eat the item without peeling it, choose organic.

If you’re going to peel it before eating, buy regular produce.

Other Produce Issues

Every item in the produce section has a label stating the country of origin. If the item was grown in the U.S.A., it may be safer to eat than something grown in another country.

Illegal Pesticides

Why do I make that bold statement? Because DDT and other pesticides that are illegal in the U.S. are still used in some countries. Unless you want to research which countries use unsafe pesticides, make it a practice to buy homegrown produce.

Washing Produce

You should thoroughly wash all produce before eating.

Even if bagged salad mix says, Pre-washed, ready to eat, do yourself a favor. Wash it from leafy greens to watermelons, always wash.

I know other sources say not to do this, but ever since I washed a bag of ready to eat salad mix and saw little dead bugs in the water, I’ve washed these bagged greens.

Make it a practice to wash all produce before you store it in your fridge. Even if the exterior of the item is to be discarded, wash it.

Cantaloupes and other melons can carry salmonella bacteria on their rinds. If you slice through one that’s affected, you run the risk of salmonella contamination spreading from the knife that pierced the melon to the flesh of the melon. This is only one possible source of contamination by microbes.

How To Wash

1. Wash your hands first with hot soapy water before and after preparing food.

2. Clean your counter top, cutting boards, and any utensils you’ll use to pare or cut produce. After you finish washing the produce, clean all the kitchen surfaces and utensils with hot, soapy water.

3. Never use soap or detergent to wash produce.

4. Use clean potable cold water to wash items. Even better than the cold water from your tap is distilled water.

5. For produce with thick skin, use a clean vegetable brush to scrub away microbes that might be hard to remove.

6. Produce with a lot of textures and indentations like cauliflower, broccoli, and leafy greens should be soaked for 1 to 2 minutes in cold clean water.

7. Berries can be especially problematic. Do not soak in water. Place in a clean colander and spray or pour distilled water over them then dry with a clean paper towel.

8. Once you cut and/or peel produce, always refrigerate as soon as possible.

9. Never buy cut portions of produce if they haven’t been refrigerated.

Do you wash the produce you buy?

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Takeaway Truth

Every year you hear food warnings about produce. Washing decreases the risk from microbes and pesticides so it’s always a smart thing to do.