A month ago I wrote a newsletter about the nationwide recall of industrially processed carrots.  Since then, there has been a massive recall of Cucumbers.  The  outbreaks of food borne illness and the recalls associated with them has attracted lots of attention, such as in this overview by NPR.  Their takeaways seem to be that frequency and scope of these events is proof that our system for tracking them has improved, as has our ability to detect pathogens in and on food.  I can’t understate how badly these types of articles fail to address the real problems.

The first is the constant drive towards convenience, the underlying causes of both the carrot outbreak and the Mcdonalds onion outbreak.  IMHO, every article about food-borne illness needs to mention that “ready-t0-eat” products are risky to eat raw.  Whole, unprocessed items are safer!  Pathogens inhabit surfaces almost exclusively, where they are easily rinsed off.  A fresh water rinse with running water is best.  If you soak your produce, which is sometimes necessary for leafy greens, do it at least twice and then do a running-water rinse.  Why?  A single bath of water can move pathogens (and dirt) from one item to another, contaminating the whole batch.  Adding vinegar or bleach to the water? Unless you are a chemist, you don’t really know how much to add.  It may just produce a false sense of security.

When ready-to-eat products make people sick, it’s usually because something happened during the processing to contaminate them.  It is very rare that large amounts of produce are contaminated in the field where they are growing.  And because ready-to-eat products are usually sold in sealed bags, the contamination generally gets worse once they are packed.  “Sell-by” dates are useful, but most of them don’t have “use by” dates”.  Remember that home refrigerators may not keep items at the right temperature.  If a product looks old, throw it out or cook it before eating it.

The second big problem — actually a HUGE problem — is that more and more of the fresh produce Americans eat is grown overseas, in places where pathogens are out of control.  In Mexico, for example, there is very little tap water that is safe for civilians to drink.  Yet US Food Safety Law (FSMA) requires that washing water for fresh produce pass the test for drinking water.  (Irrigation water has slightly less strict standards.)  With the rampant corruption in Mexico, it’s hard to imagine water testing — or any other food safety practice — is reliable on farms there.  The cucumbers involved the current massive recall IMHO were likely grown with and washed with water that does not comply with US standards.

The third big problem is evidenced simply by the scale and scope of all the recent outbreaks.  Consolidation in the fresh product industry means that only a handful of large agribusinesses produce the majority of all the fruits and vegetables eaten in the U.S.   That means that any pathogens that do get in or on the produce will get spread far and wide.  And the longer the supply chain, the more time the pathogens have to grow and flourish.  I guarantee you that all of these corporations, such as Grimmway Farms, have large departments dedicated entirely to Food Safety.  But for all the documentation and Best Management Practices (BMPs) that they institute, they simply can’t overcome the fact that their operations are too vast and far-reaching to prevent a certain number of consumers from getting sick from their products.  It’s a numbers game.  If you sell 100 million bags of carrots a year and 100 of them — 0.01% — get sick, you have to recall every single bag of carrots.

My advice to people who ask me about this is somewhat self-serving, but I think it is valid:

  1. Buy local.
  2. Buy minimally processed fruits and vegetables.  If they arw processed, cook it or at least drop them in boiling water for a few seconds before eating.
  3. Don’t buy fresh produce from Mexico unless it has a peel (mangoes, avocadoes) or you’re going to cook it.
  4. Always rinse all the produce that you’re not going to cook, even if it has a peel. It will remove 99% of the pathogens.

It’s important to remember that most fresh product is still grown outdoors, where it is exposed to airborne, waterborn, and soilborne pathogens for its entire lifecycle — including at harvest.  That does not negate the numerous benefits that come from eating it, including the boost to your immune system that continuous minimal exposure to pathogens provides.  The idea that it can be somehow sterilized without being cooked is simply a fantasy.

Thanks,