However, the ready-to-eat forms of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables available for purchase to the public are not always the best choice.
The processing of fresh produce into ready-to-eat fresh-cut products increases the risk of bacterial growth and contamination. This can occur when the natural exterior barriers of these products are broken in the processing of these foods.
Contamination can occur from many mishandling processes of these products, such as a lack of washing the produce first, mishandling the utensils for processing, lack of proper hygiene, and so forth.
There are no guarantees that the processors of these foods have followed the necessary safety precautions, even though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provides the proper guidelines.
On March 12, the FDA provided food processors updated recommendations in its publication of the "Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards of Fresh-cut Fruits and Vegetables."
This advice outlines details on how to minimize microbial food safety hazards that are common in processing the majority of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables.
With the continual growth in the fresh-cut produce market, processors must meet the challenge of safety in preparing these foods.
There were 72 food-borne illness outbreaks associated with fresh produce consumption in the decade from 1996 to 2006, according to the FDA publication. Of this total, 25 percent (or 18 of the outbreaks) were found to be associated with fresh-cut produce.
Although other factors must be considered regarding the food-borne illness outbreaks, such as higher susceptibilities of the elderly, increased global trades of these products, and so forth, improvements are needed.
Possibly the best way to avoid this particular problem is to avoid fresh-cut produce as much as possible. Choosing to take a little more time out of our fast-paced lives to clean and process our own fresh fruits and vegetables may be the best alternative for food consumption safety.
