Top 10 Dirtiest Foods

[marco25]

This is pretty interesting ... Top 10 Dirtiest Foods (http://www.nbc5i.com/food/3341416/detail.html)

[1 Fine Spine RN]

Gross. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

[mikes4x4]

what about mud bugs http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif

[marmalady]

As we, as consumers, continue to increase our purchases of food which is out of season in the US, and buy products grown in foreign countries where standars may be more lax, we will continue to have these outbreaks.

If you'll notice, none of the foods are 'dirty' in and of themselves; they are contaminated by the pickers and processers.

I guess my point is that if we all learned to eat local, in season foods, we'd run much less risk of contamination.

_____________
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

[marco25]

Originally posted by mikes4x4s:

what about mud bugs http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif Mike, I suppose that since crawfish are boiled for several minutes, they're sterilized--except for those veins where the waste is processed, like shrimp. You'd still want to address that.

Marm, great point about foods in season, etc.

Before I read this story, I ate some fresh cantalope this morning that I'd cut up. I've never washed a cantalope or banana etc with warm, soapy water. The thought of all that bacteria on the outside of the fruit getting on the knife when I first cut through the peel, and then spreading as I cut each bite size piece--ugh. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif

[duge]

My wife used to work in the produce section of a grocery store, you ought to see her washing everything she buy's from one I keep telling her she's going to wash all the food off. But she told me that she had even opened up boxes with puke in them.

T-12 incomplete 10-3-02

[marco25]

OMG Duge! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif Between you and Jim, I'm not going to be able to keep down anything! Yuck!

But we need to be aware of what goes on with the food we buy. It's sure making me appreciate my vegetable garden this year! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[chick]

i scrub my fruits to clean, sometimes using very little bit of soap. i did read/hear that soap (maybe certain dish soap?) can be even more harmful than the bit of bacteria that might be on your fruits/veggies, and that small amounts of soap will seep through pores of the fruits/veggies even if rinsed off completely.

so... what's best way to clean skin of produce you eat skin of, not peel off (ie cantaloupe, bananas)??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"do not be too moral. you may cheat yourself out of much life. aim above morality. be simply not good; be good for something."

[marco25]

Chick, I've seen vegetable brushes in stores like Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, etc. I bet that would do the job, sans soap. I haven't seen any that would be easy for quads to use, though. Let us know if you find one.

vegetable brush (http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1379623)

Bananas I will just peel from now on and then cut or break in half for the kids.

It's going to be fun washing those watermelons this summer. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[booster]

Scientific veiwpoint:

You have lasted this long in your regular food routines without any major illnesses, thus why the need for behavior modifications now? Just because you have the knowledge provided by the above link does not mean that you will die the next time you eat chicken.

Humans (evolutionary standpoint) have historically eaten some yuk and rancid things with as little as a stomach ache. Hell, watch colonial house on pbs!

[marco25]

Good point booster. However I'm sure you've watched those shows on The Learning Channel and Discovery, and they show all those micro-organisms that have infested every crevice of your home and body. What's really in your dishrag or on your toothbrush or in your hair!

Ignorance is bliss. We were all healthy and HAPPY before we had to learn about all that yuck out there. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Nancie]

Hell, watch colonial house on pbs!
i love this series! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

and just for the record, i thought this thread might be about sex http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/wink.gif http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[marco25]

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif Don't think I haven't considered such a topic! Sigh, but this is Food not R&S. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[metronycguy]

some of those foods will kill you, the scallions in the chi chi restaurant in Pennsylvania killed 3 sickened many more
http://slate.msn.com/id/2091529/
its not worth the risk, e coli is not fun and can kill the young or elderly
as happened in NY state a couple years ago.http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/me/patientsguide/newsitem.htm
nothing to take lightly. there is a disease/bacteria you can catch from raw shellfish , that if you have a liver infection such as hepatitis , you bleed out from the eyes..nasty stuff..
Vibrio vulnificus
http://www.dmagazine.com/pressreleases/nancystory.pdf

[marmalady]

Booster, Even tho our 'food routines' may have remained the same, the agriculture, processing and shipping of that said food HAS changed drastically every year. We consume more products from out of country; we eat out at restaurants more; we buy more 'table-ready' food, ie ground meat products. As the demand from consumers grow for things like, oh, asparagus in December, more and more growers from other countries will rush in to fill the gap.

So, even tho our habits may not have changed, the food we are eating has, and the way in which it is processed has definitely changed.

Chick, you may be thinking of some news that came out a while ago about all the 'antibacterial' soaps actually being harmful; we're in such a rush to 'sterilize' everything in our homes, we're actually developing bacteria that are resistant to the chemicals in the soap. Just using a plain soap and warm water to clean your veggies is sufficient. Or use one of the pricey (gee, imagine that!) 'vegetable washes' on the market now.

_____________
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

[booster]

Yall,

Take an upper level microbiology course, then come back and preach to me. Take a few of them, and get a degree in a public health field, I'll bow to your reasoning.

Marm, there is truth in what you have said. But, do you wash the cucumber before cutting or pealing, do you wash the potato or boil it, etc. Where it comes from is not relivant. The rice you by from Thialand was swimming in shit, do you contract HEP B because of it, no! As you said, washing it will surfice.

Great series Nancy, I hated the laypreacher and his annoying wife though! But that's what you get when you mix an anthropologist with a thoelogian.

[chick]

Thx Marm, Martha. I do scrub with a scoring type pad, sometimes with lil bit of soap- depending on item. I do have a brush but easier to use the pad for me.

Booster, I thought that the 1900 series was better, and they had it much tougher with the work they had to do! More interesting characters too. One marriage even fell apart after the show, I think. Hey, I missed some of Colonial house and have no idea why the 2 black persons left??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"do not be too moral. you may cheat yourself out of much life. aim above morality. be simply not good; be good for something."

[booster]

I starte watching this one from the begining, missed all other series.

The lady left, because it was scheduled for her to leave?

The gentleman left because he made the connection between endentured servants and the development of slavery, and he was appauled, so he left. Does not meke sense, I figure one would want to understand the process more and use the show as an outlet for activism, but he just up and left, wuss.

[metronycguy]

booster check the FDA site http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html
its one of many that detail the food borne illnesses and also recalls of items like scallions that have killed and sickened many,cantaloupe contamination and recently
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01071.html
i used to subscribe to a food borne illness list that had all the localized outbreaks and had some great information from the food safety professionals.
one of the best items i gleaned from that list is the regulation in some areas to wear gloves when handling food is really not a good method to control cross contamination. if the hands are not properly cleaned before donning the gloves, the gloves are now contaminated and of course the food is too. it better to teach proper and frequnet hand washing and each employee to have their own nailbrush to prevent cross contamination.

[marco25]

Peas porridge hot,
Peas porridge cold,
Peas porridge in the pot,
Nine days old.

Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot,
Nine days old.

Nine days! People really used to let the food sit in the pot like that. Room temperature. Maggots would lay eggs. They'd still eat it!

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif

[booster]

Marth,
Love your humor girl, brought a smile to my face. Thanks.

Metro,
Yes, fault lies with the food service industry on that one. My cousin is a food inspector and I am working on a MPH in the area of education. Some of the coursework will make you rethink just touching a door knob or the handle of your car door. Yes, one should wash their hands as much as possible, wearing gloves in healthcare (infection control principle) is to protect the healthcare worker, not the patient. In food service, it was started when working with poultry, pork, and seafood, the worker was supposed to change gloves (washing hands of course) between meats per se. Then the gloves became a tool to make the customers feel better. Now, most food industry workers wear them, defeating the purpose because they are inproperly trained. Most degreed cheifs, wont wear gloves, just wash their hands. So, I ask where is the logic?


Dr. JJ is a microbiologist, we ought to bring him in here just for an opinion.