We are half way through our food poisoning countdown! As we discover the most dangerous foods that can cause us harm, let us see what lies between the rest!
#5 Food Poisoning Culprit – Leafy Greens
Some of you might have suspected this criminal to come in as quite a dangerous food. Many food poisoning stories have arisen due to this deadly green – check out the Woolworths recall a few months ago! But why does such a healthy food cause us so much agony?
The underlying issue that causes the food poisoning in leafy greens has nothing to do with the vitamin-packed vegetables itself, but rather it is caused by the bacteria, such as E. coli, that live just below the surface of the leaf. That is only one side of it…
Like all natural produce, humans are a part of the process in picking the food from Mother Nature. So if they did not wash their hands after handling manure to make the vegetables grow in a healthy manner…I’ll let your imagination run wild here.
Never fear though, science has come a long way has developed a new cleansing process that targets the hidden germs in the pores of leafy greens. By adding a titanium dioxide photocatalyst to the washing solution, researchers from the University of California-Riverside say they are able to kill 99 percent of bacteria that hide deep within the leaves. Even better, they say, this is a cheap and easy fix for farmers. Unfortunately, it’s not in use yet, but the researchers say they hope to see it implemented soon.
But for now we will got back to the basics. Need a few easy steps to avoid getting sick with leafy greens? Look at the list below;
Obvious but WASH YOUR LEAFY GREENS before eating.
Avoid cross-contaminating them with other materials (habits like using another chopping board to chop raw meat will help)
