Safer fruits and vegetables

FDA Consumer, May-June, 2006

The FDA has published draft guidance for food producers who work with fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, to minimize health hazards that may be introduced during processing.

Processing fruits and vegetables into fresh-cut produce increases the risk of bacterial contamination and growth. During processing, the natural exterior barrier of the produce is broken by peeling, slicing, coring, trimming, or mashing before being packaged for consumption. Examples of fresh-cut products are shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, raw vegetable salads, peeled baby carrots, broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, cut celery stalks, shredded cabbage, cut melons, sliced pineapple, and sectioned grapefruit.

The guidance discusses the production and harvesting of fresh produce and provides recommendations for fresh-cut processing.

Consumers can reduce their risk of illness from fresh-cut produce by following safe handling practices such as refrigerating the product after purchase; using only clean hands, utensils, or dishes in preparing the product; and discarding the product when the "use by" date has expired.

To find out more on how to safely handle food, see:

* portal.fightbac.org/pfse/toolsyoucanuse/phec/

* www.cfsan.fda.gov/.guidance.html