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Cheryl Macik Director of |
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Summer is almost here and soon our produce sections will be bursting with the colors and flavors of seasonal fruits and vegetables, picked fresh from local farms. It’s a good time to review some basic safe handling guidelines to make sure the produce you enjoy is safe and delicious! -- Refrigerate produce promptly. Items like peaches can be left at room temperature to ripen but most produce should be refrigerated. Tomatoes taste best if they haven’t been refrigerated, so eat them within a few days. -- Wash your hands! This is especially important when handling produce, since it’s often eaten raw. -- Wash produce with cool, running water, just before eating raw or cooking. Leafy greens can be washed as soon as you get them home. Dry thoroughly and refrigerate in a plastic bag. -- Packaged salad greens labeled, ready to eat,washed or triple washed, don’t need to be washed again. ALWAYS wash your hands before handling so that any germs on your hands don’t end up in your salad! Follow the use-by date on the package. -- Use a produce brush and scrub melon rinds thoroughly to remove any surface dirt that could contaminate the flesh of the melon during cutting. -- Keep a separate cutting board for preparing fresh produce or wash thoroughly with hot, soapy water when switching between foods like produce and meat or poultry. -- Keep cut or peeled produce cold. Discard any leftovers if they’ve been at room temperature for more than two hours. -- Use a cooler with ice packs to transport and store perishable foods outdoors. Don’t eat ice that’s come in contact with fresh produce or other raw foods. For more information, visit www.befoodsafe.org
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