Health Alert: Fast food raps and salads have made hundreds sick.

More than 400 people have become ill since May 1, 2018, eating fresh (unripe) vegetables in salads, pieces of food, and other items at various fast-food chain restaurants. Others became ill after eating recently prepared salads or using vegetables grown as salads. Home from the food store chain. Some people who like to lick spoons after mixing homemade or pre-prepared cookie or cake flour have also become ill due to flour (previously recalled) or eggs (salmonella) in the mixture. Why have things like fresh vegetables and flour suddenly become a health hazard?

 

Nobody would like an answer, but this is the truth. I have been writing about this for twenty years. Many people became seriously ill in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and some died after eating fresh vegetables or prepared foods, including salads, tacos, wraps, etc. Others became ill with raw batter and some fruits. Please note that this was not just your average case of food poisoning due to rancid or undercooked food. These cases included potential killers such as Campylobacter, E. coli, and Listeria. Why so many cases, and how did they get involved in our food?

 

You might be thinking that this has to do with home cooks and restaurant staff not washing fresh vegetables before using them in something like salads, sandwiches, or wraps. Sadly, this is not the problem. Dirt and contaminated vegetables can be washed out like pesticides. Washing for vegetables infected with Campylobacter, E. coli, and Listeria will do nothing. There are more cases of vegetables infected with these contaminants than ever before.

 

For many years the same group of migrant workers and their children produced American produce. He went for a walk around the country as he had most of the year work. When the crop was not produced, they found work in food processing plants. Although fast-food franchises and chain restaurants became extremely popular in the 1980s and 1990s, growers grew more and required larger numbers of people to take their crops and help them. It generated a huge influx of new faces from Mexico and South American nations.

 

The old joke (and even the title of a film) says, "Do not drink water south of the border." Why? Because the water supply in many of these developing countries is dangerously contaminated with all types of bacteria. This is because in places lacking treatment facilities; raw sewage is diverted from the water to be transported away from populated areas. This fact is proved by the regular pollution of seawater from San Diego beaches that is sometimes so contaminated with Mexican sewage that it is unsafe to swim.

 

In many cases, the same freshwater is badly contaminated with sewage is used for drinking and washing clothes. Because it has been gone for so long, people in these places have built immunity to most contaminants. However, they remain in their bodies. Sometimes growers provide no or appropriate portable toilet facilities for pickers or workers. Their bodies fit into the ground. Like, food processing plants that do not implement handwashing or other food safety procedures end up with the same problem if their workers make physical contact with food through touch or sweat.

 

Hazardous bacteria are fed into the crops through soak water from the ground. That type of contamination cannot be washed away; It is in food. This is true if bacteria are found in casually processed food. Testing helps with processing facilities, but it is usually too late to catch all tainted food products to keep them safe. Last year, unripe vegetables and some fresh fruits sickened one in six people in the US and Canada. Became very ill due to undercooked or tainted beef, chicken, pork, or seafood. We do not have the immunity that takers and food workers have to fight dangerous contaminants. So what can be done?

 

There are some things that you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones from these threats. First, identify the problem foods that people eat without cooking them. These will include lettuce, celery, cabbage, leafy vegetables, sprouts, cucumbers, gelpano peppers, and other seeded vegetables. I recommend microwaving uncooked veggies for 1-2 minutes at high power. Scientists disagree with each other on the benefits of microwaving, but it has been working for my family and me for years.

 

Fruits, well, I can only suggest that you buy fruits and vegetables grown in the United States. Be especially careful when it comes to strawberries, cantaloupes, and grapes. There are many ways to cook fruits and still retain their taste and health benefits. Then, there are always fruit pies (yams). Cook meats and eggs well and avoid flavored milk and cheese. Beware of meats or seafood manufactured and processed in other countries.

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