Rushing from the local supermarket to finish other scheduled tasks for the day may mean chucking your newly bought fresh fruit and vegetable in the fridge without washing and cleaning them. But what might this cause us?
Dietician Susie Burrell from Australia reminds us that these healthy produces can be carrying dangerous bacteria that cause food poisoning such as E-coli. It is not true that exposing ourselves to soil and other "natural" substances aids in boosting our immune system. It is actually dangerous.
An Accredited Practising Dietician, Laura Ryan, supports this claim that fruits and vegetables can be contaminated with hazardous pesticides, bacteria, soils and other pathogens that are very harmful to human health, thus they must be washed before consumption to guarantee safety.
Another growing concern is the pesticides sprayed to this produce that might be carcinogenic or cause other health problems such as developmental disorders and birth defects. To avoid these grievous threats to consumers' health, standards such as Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) implement guidelines that make sure chemical residues are below the international standards proven safe for consumption. As related by Ryan, the best way to ensure that our produce are free from pesticides or harmful chemicals is to buy organic or grow our own fruits and vegetables in our own places.
Ryan lists down some of the high risk fruits and vegetables that need to be cleaned thoroughly before consumption:
- Home-grown vegetables - Household with pets must be more careful as their pets may contaminate soil with faeces
- Melons - It should be washed before cutting as it has higher risk of contamination from pathogens and must be covered after being sliced to avoid growth of pathogens
- Sprouts - It is often eaten raw, therefore not going through the process of cooking and heating that usually kills off harmful bacteria. This must not be eaten by more sensitive groups (pregnant women, young children, elderly, etc.)
Ryan offered the advice to wash the fruits and vegetables with cool running water directly just before you are going to eat or prepare it to avoid moulds.
