There are about 2.4m cases of food poisoning in the UK every year, more than double the estimate in 2009. According to the Food Standards Agency. The World Health Organisation (WHO) have advised all shoppers should wash all fruit and vegetables to reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus. Although the NHS UK said it was very unlikely Covid-19 was being spread through things like packages or food. People who eat contaminated produce can get very ill and even require hospitalisation. In this article, it will look at why it is important to wash fruits and vegetables, involving pesticides and possible contamination.

Food production is a huge industry, so it’s (unfortunately) impossible for producers to avoid contamination 100 percent of the time. The rules and regulations are extremally strict on every level, cases of cross contamination we hear about are usually linked to unforeseen circumstances and can happen at any time during the production process. Animal or human faeces contamination of the fresh produce food supply can happen when there are breakdowns in sanitation and hygiene practices on farms or throughout packing and processing for example, produce is frequently grown in open fields and orchards that aren’t sterile. Wild animals, like deer, birds, or rodents, may enter fields or waterways and spread bacteria or parasites to fruits, nuts, and veggies.

The vast majority of people believe that the food we buy in supermarkets and corner shops is safe to eat (even if it’s not always the healthiest options!). 

A rising amount of our food is supplied through complex supply chains that can link to producers world-wide. Each item has several risks linked with it on the journey from farm or producer to you the consumer. Numerous factors along the food supply chains can affect the health of consumers:

• From pesticides, herbicides and GM crops on the farm, to contamination from pests;
• From handling practices at every point along the chain, to the ingredients of processed foods and the methods used to make them;
• From storage conditions and food packaging to labelling adequately informing the consumer of safety and dietary considerations;
• And lastly, of course, the hygienic handling of products in the store.

Throughout our stores there is also a numerous of ways in which food is presented to you the buyer. Fruit and vegetables come loose, bagged, chopped, peeled and packaged. Fridge displays and fresh food counters offer raw meats, seafood, multiple types of dairy products, cooked products and other prepared foods. These give a multitude of occasions where the safety of consumers can be compromised. 

Hygiene of employees:

Personal habits that are not acceptable around food preparation include:

• smoking;
• spitting;
• touching the hair, face or parts of the body or clothing;
• eating;
• working while ill with diarrhoea, vomiting or any infectious diseases
• working with open wounds or skin infections;
• wearing watches or jewellery, as they can fall in the food;

Adequate hand washing with soap is essential:

• after handling: raw meat and equipment used to cut it; food waste and containers; cash, phones or door handles;
• after using the toilet;
• after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing;
• before and after wearing gloves;
• after using cleaning products, such as cloths, sponges, mops, cleaning and sterilising chemicals, pesticides, etc.

What can we do to protect ourselves and others?

Although the majority of people know its unhygienic to handle unpackaged food items in store, but unfortunately, I think most of us are guilty off doing exactly this. So maybe we all should be mindful and take responsibility for our own and others safety and health when we can. There have been some horrific accounts of customers spreading germs at grocery stores. When we grab a trolley or basket we could go on to contaminate produce within the store. As shopping trollies and baskets have been found to have higher levels of bacteria than surfaces in public toilets and other public places. 

Furthermore, individuals may cough or sneeze into their hand, then continuing to rummage through the produce, there are just too many factors out of your control that could lead to food contamination. You basically cannot trust the fellow customer to make the right choices in what they are handling.  

How should I handle loose fruit and vegetables when shopping? 

Infection rate is quite small when handling these produce, as long as good hygiene practice is observed, so it’s not necessary to immediately to wash your hands. However, if you intend to eat the produce immediately then wash the produce before consuming.

We need to learn to methodically wash fruits and vegetables before cooking or consuming them. Produce that the manufacturer has prewashed does not need additional rinsing, however, there are two main risks of consuming unwashed fruits and vegetables: bacterial contamination and pesticides. In current years, several outbreaks of foodborne illness have come from contaminated cantaloupe, spinach, tomatoes, and lettuce. The risk was highlighted in the 2011 Escherichia coli (E. coli) outbreak in the UK. Caused by soil stuck on leeks. And in 2016, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigated an outbreak of Listeriosis that hospitalised 19 individuals and one person died. 

How should fruit and vegetables be washed properly?

Most of the bacteria will be in the soil attached to the produce, Washing will help remove any soil, bacteria, including E. coli, from the surface of fruit and vegetables. Place items under a running tap and gently rub them. Salad spinners are very good at washing salad produce as it removes excess water.

The UK has some of the most stringent food safety and hygiene legislation in the world. there are concerns about how food safety standards will be affected following Brexit. Food safety fears for the forthcoming future for UK trade deals. Figures propose that the proportion of people who fall ill with food poisoning yearly is up to ten times higher in the US than the UK. We fear that treating increased food poisoning could increase deaths from food poisoning and cost the NHS and UK economy at least £1bn additional per year.