Recent news stories linking food illness outbreaks to fresh produce consumption are understandably a concern for many people. It is one of many reasons more people are choosing to grow their own produce at home or in community gardens. However, home garden and edible landscape environments are not free from the potential of microbial contamination.
Preventing contamination, reducing the survival of pathogens and preventing cross-contamination in the garden, when storing food and during food preparation are the foundation of food safety in the garden and landscape.
Guiding principles of microbial safety for fresh produce are:
- Once produce has been contaminated, the pathogens are very hard to remove or to kill.
- Prevention of microbial contamination at all steps, from production to consumption, is much more effective than efforts to “clean the produce up” after it has been contaminated.
- Food safety awareness is the essential tool for designing and implementing a home garden strategy for preventing foodborne illness.
To learn more about reducing the risk of foodborne illness from produce grown in your garden or landscape, please see UC’s Key Points of Control and Management for Microbial Food Safety: Edible Landscape Plants and Home Garden Produce.