- Author: Ann King Filmer
![Food blog 01 5751417888 59f0a8c3ca m[1]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/food/blogfiles/7859small.jpg)
Now that we’re in the thick of summer and eating bountiful quantities of uncooked fresh fruits and vegetables (salads, and fruit bowls, and tomatoes — oh my!), it’s time to make sure we handle them properly to avoid foodborne illnesses.
According to Dr. Trevlor Suslow, a plant pathologist and Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Davis, “Americans consume more than six billion servings of uncooked fresh fruits and vegetables every year, versus a very small number of illnesses that are clearly linked to foodborne pathogens.”
The take-home message is that the food supply in the U.S. is generally very safe, particularly when everyone in the food supply chain (including consumers) does their part to assure food...
- Author: Ann King Filmer
Very few people wash their hands adequately prior to preparing or eating food. Most of us don’t even know how to wash hands properly.
There are many good reasons to wash hands:
- Pathogen spread – from yourself, from others, from one contaminated food to another (meats, produce, etc.)
- Chemical spread – whatever chemicals are on your hands can go directly into the food being prepared. This can include pesticides, hand sanitizers (ick), cleaning products, hand lotions, etc.
- The ick factor – “Ick, what’s that slime on your hands and do I really want that in my food?”
The most memorable item I learned about hand-washing is that we need to wash for at least 20 seconds...
