Scrub Veggies for Safe Salads — Recent Salmonella Outbreak is No Reason for Consumers to Give Up Eating Fresh Produce

By Mary Powers

Leave the pricey commercial produce wash products on the grocery store shelf.

Forget soap.

When it comes to cleaning fruits and vegetables for fresh and safe summer salads, fruit plates or crudites, experts say most of us need only a clean scrub brush, a dash of bleach and plenty of water.

Their advice comes 10 weeks into a salmonella outbreak that’s linked to certain tomato varieties. The bacteria seems to be carried in or on raw red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes grown in certain states.

Not all tomatoes are implicated. Tomatoes grown in Tennessee, Arkansas and 45 other states or countries haven’t been linked to the infection and federal health officials list them as safe to eat. Other varieties considered safe are grape and cherry tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes.

Donna Downen added that there is no reason for most consumers to give up fresh produce. She is a University of Tennessee Extension Service nutrition and food safety educator.

“We need to be sure we are prudent and pay attention to the warnings that are out there, but we cannot live in fear,” she said. “It is important to eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible, particularly raw fruits and vegetables to get fiber and as many natural nutrients as possible.”

The current woes are linked to a rare strain of salmonella bacteria, known as Salmonella Saintpaul.

Since April 10, it has sickened at least 552 individuals in at least 32 states. That compares with three cases during all of 2007.

Although no deaths have been traced to this latest outbreak of food-borne illness, it’s sent at least 43 individuals to the hospital, including a Shelby County resident sickened late last month. The unidentified woman is one of four Tennesseans infected with the Salmonella Saintpaul strain.

Late last week Dr. Robert Tauxe of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the outbreak isn’t necessarily complete. The most recent confirmed case occurred June 5.

Although officials hadn’t pinpointed the source of the outbreak, on Friday federal Food and Drug Administration inspectors headed to farms and warehouses in Florida and Mexico.

Salmonella is associated with shoddy sanitation, poor hygiene and a breakdown in the food safety system.

The problem isn’t new. Since 2001, strawberries, tomatoes, melons, spinach, lettuce and bagged salad mixes have all made headlines after investigators fingered them as the source of viruses, bacteria, parasites and other bugs that have sickened hundreds nationwide. Consumers were warned to toss or return enough fruit and vegetables to replenish the nation’s salad bars several times over.

The list doesn’t include other food-borne illnesses in recent years that were traced to hamburger, canned stews, peanut butter and other processed foods.

Whatever the cause of this latest outbreak, local folks like Otho Sawyer of the Health Department and Downen of the UT Extension Service recommend consumers should routinely take a few simple steps to guard against picking up a bug when they pick up their salad fork.

“Most of the time, the rules and regulations work and we don’t think anything” about the safety of fresh fruit and produce, Downen said. “But every now and then things break down.”

Sawyer added, “We don’t run into a lot of questions about produce until something like this happens.” He is the Health Department’s assistant manager of environmental sanitation.

Salmonella lives in the digestive tract of humans and animals.

Symptoms of diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps usually develop 12 to 72 hours after the infection. Most people recover in four to seven days without antibiotic or other treatment. But some, including infants, pregnant women, older persons or those with weakened immune systems, are at increased risk of serious illness and even death.

Because even vigilant consumers cannot protect against every risk, Downen said those at high risk might opt to eat only cooked tomatoes until the outbreak ends. Heating the fruit to 165 degrees or higher kills the bug.

She explained that food grown using salmonella-contaminated water will harbor the bacteria inside. In such cases, no amount of washing would render it safe.

But proper washing should take care of food contaminated at some point between the field and the kitchen.

That means washing, scrubbing and, Downen said, in some cases rinsing food in a diluted-bleach solution.

“Most times it is not a bad idea to wash” pre-washed items like salad greens and fruit, Sawyer said.

Neither Downen nor Sawyer recommended washing fresh produce with soap or fruit and vegetable sanitizers sold in some produce sections.

Downen said the commercial products aren’t necessary. Sawyer said if soap isn’t completely removed from food it will likely cause stomach and digestive upset.

Sawyer recommended letting fruits and vegetables air dry after washing or using a clean cloth or paper towel. He recommended washing and scrubbing produce even if it will be peeled before eating.

Contact Mary Powers at 529-2383. To read more stories by this reporter, go to commercialappeal.com, click on Contact Us at the top of the home page and then click on the reporter’s name.

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Salad Please, But Hold the Bacteria

Donna Downen, a nutrition and food safety educator with the UT Extension Service, tells how to safely enjoy summer’s bounty.

1. Just before serving, wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly in clean water.

2. Use a clean vegetable brush to remove dirt and gently scrub potatoes, melons, cucumbers and other fruits and vegetables.

3. Mix one tablespoon of bleach in one gallon of water.

4. Dip the washed fruits and vegetables in the bleach solution.

5. Rinse thoroughly. Allow to air dry or dry with a clean cloth or paper towel.

These tips about tomatoes come from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

1. Refrigerate within 2 hours or discard cut, peeled, or cooked tomatoes.

2. Avoid purchasing bruised or damaged tomatoes and discard any that appear spoiled.

3. Thoroughly wash all tomatoes under running water.

4. Keep tomatoes that will be consumed raw separate from raw meats, raw seafood, and raw produce items.

5. Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot water and soap when switching between types of food products.

For more information, check the FDA’s Web site at fda.gov or visit the CDC’s Web site at cdc.gov.

Originally published by Mary Powers powers@commercialappeal.com .

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