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Preparing salads |
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Admin ![]() Admin Group ![]() Administrator Joined: 01 Sep 2009 Location: N. Ireland Status: Offline Points: 390 |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posted: 22 Jul 2016 at 6:06pm |
Thank you for this topical and interesting question. Your question is not as simple as you might expect and I apologise if I take a little longer than usual to answer it.
We coexist with microorganisms and for most people the normal microbial flora on vegetables and fruits cause few if any problems. Most people can even tolerate high levels of certain pathogens. Evolution in people has resulted in the development of good defences against most microorganisms e.g. Unfortunately, there are a number of pathogenic viruses and bacteria that if present in food at even low concentration can make even normal, healthy people ill, and perhaps even kill them. Many of these organisms are of faecal origin and have very low infectious doses. While some people can ingest millions of some salmonella or Pathogens gain access to vegetables and fruits mainly during growing and harvesting. To ensure that vegetables and fruit in supermarkets are safe to eat, controls should be in place to reduce contamination during these stages. The major supermarkets in the UK and Ireland have contracts with processors / growers to minimise the risks of contamination in fruits and vegetables. Washed and ready to eat salads from British and Irish supermarkets have an excellent safety record and I am not aware of any medical or governmental advice against their consumption that applies to any group within the population. The salads sold in ready to eat form in If the vegetables have been irrigated with water containing un-treated sewerage or contaminated with manure or grown in contaminated compost then any salads containing these vegetables may contain high concentrations of pathogens. Under these circumstances normal washing and chlorine or hypochlorite treatment may not render them safe to eat. Washing and sanitising will only reduce microbial numbers by a certain extent e.g. 90%. So the lower the initial numbers, the lower the final residual number of organisms. There are big advantages to eating fruits and vegetables that have been produced by British and Irish farmers. So what do you do with your garden salad vegetables? Grow them first of all in a way that minimises exposure to faecal contamination. There are guideline for doing this that you can access On Line. Providing that they are not contaminated with large concentrations of What if you have an immunocompromised person to feed? I am not aware of any concerns in giving these people prepared ready to eat salads from the major supermarkets in the UK and Ireland. The retailers will have a contract with the processor that ensures If you want to further reduce the microbial load on your vegetables you could consider using a very dilute solution of There are some downsides to using chlorine (or any halogen) based |
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