Vegetables of Death?

[Tool-Slinger]

Saw it on the TV news, samonella on tomatoes and this is not the first time either. I always wash store-bought vegetables that I do not cook. Onions, toss the top layer. Head lettuce, toss top layer and check the rest for bugs. Some stuff gets peeled and other stuff gets cooked, so that don't matter. But is rinsing stuff enough? Stuff like tomatoes and loose-leaf lettuce? I generally just rinse in cold water. Is that safe?

[lolson]

i do the same as you do and it is a good question

[Jay 41]

It's best to grow your own, if you have the room and the time, I go to the store and see the strawberries they're trying to sell, they look sick compaired to mine.

[haustek]

I heard that story on the radio on my way to work the other day. I was eating a BLT that I picked up on my way in.

[Tool-Slinger]

It's best to grow your own, if you have the room and the time, I go to the store and see the strawberries they're trying to sell, they look sick compaired to mine.

I know you are 100% correct. Pick a little leaf lettuce and a few tomatoes off the porch and WHALAH! Instant salad! Sadly, I cannot due to being mobile/business reasons.

No plants, no pets, no,... well no nuthin else.

I get my veggies at wal-mart.

[Tool-Slinger]

I heard that story on the radio on my way to work the other day. I was eating a BLT that I picked up on my way in.

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHA!

Too busy eating tomatoes to worry about samonellas! I didn't order samonellas with that!

[Senior Tech]

Thanks...I saw a story on 60 minutes about chicken and couldn't eat it for 3 years...now no tomatoes

[Tool-Slinger]

Thanks...I saw a story on 60 minutes about chicken and couldn't eat it for 3 years...now no tomatoes

I know the feeling, just thinking it should be safe if you rinse the stuff off. I dunno, when I rinse tomatoes I even rub them a little with my hands while rinsing. Not much help for lettuce. Jay41 has the best solution, but some of us do not have that option. News folks just hype the OUTBREAK! and don't tell us how to avoid it. Just ... do not .. eat ... tomatoes anymore?

[A/C guy's chick]

strange how the media can excite the people.. wash, wash with soap, then wash some more, thats my theory, but do you trust the restaurant's and fast food service ? It's customer beware now-a-days. Just hope the media does not ruin my crop. No ca-ca in my tomatoes, Hey maybe I'll sell a few and make some profit instead of canning this year

[coordinatesales]

I thought the same about washing but with the current scare the problem seems to be when they are processed after being picked. They are rapidly cooled which can draw contaminates on the skin into the tomato. In those cases, washing wouldn't help.

[Green Mountain]

In colonial times people would not eat tomatoes because they considered them to be poison.

It wasn't until the Mediterrian countries like Spain and Italy started to infiltrate that tomatoes became an American staple.

[coordinatesales]

Poison or not, I never have like them and don't eat them. I think the leaves are poison and that is what started that problem.

Reminds me of tapioca, it's poisonous until it's cooked properly. Makes you wonder about the guy who discovered that. Hmmmmm, 'this plant has killed everyone who tried to eat it but maybe if I cook it this way, I can eat it.' Kinda like the first guy to look at a lobster and say...'That looks yummy, I think I'll eat it!'.

[forged alloy]

I seriously doubt that washing even with soap would make much of a difference. I doubt the skin would be much af a barrier to this type of bug. Having said that, I still wash everything.

Odds of getting bad food these days are fairly slim, I like my odds. One good thing about our media driven society is word gets out fast.

[Green Mountain]

Poison or not, I never have like them and don't eat them. I think the leaves are poison and that is what started that problem.

Reminds me of tapioca, it's poisonous until it's cooked properly. Makes you wonder about the guy who discovered that. Hmmmmm, 'this plant has killed everyone who tried to eat it but maybe if I cook it this way, I can eat it.' Kinda like the first guy to look at a lobster and say...'That looks yummy, I think I'll eat it!'.

Yeah, right! That guy who eat the first clam most have been one hungry bastard.

[Tool-Slinger]

Got the same info, bottom-line, washing is not good enough.

Cook it, grow it yourself, or take your chances.

Not that washing is unhelpful, just not enough,, *sigh*

[bigblock4spd]

read somewhere that the salmonella was inside the tomatoes-washing them does no good-they didnt know if it came from the fertilizer or from the workers in the field with no toilet for miles

[Tool-Slinger]

read somewhere that the salmonella was inside the tomatoes-washing them does no good-they didnt know if it came from the fertilizer or from the workers in the field with no toilet for miles

1] I also read, since my original post that washing does no good as the samonellas penetrate the tomatoe skin.

2] I am not sure about the confusion over fertilizer/ no toilets. Poo-based fertilizers are probably not tossed over bearing tomatoe plants, rather worked into the soil before the plant is planted. I suspect the actual confusion is over fruit-bucket/ poo-bucket. Those things should be clearly labeled,...

[voodoo]

Salmonella is usally from under cooked food.Mainly chickens and the like.You can also get it from animal feces!It is transfered by not washing your hands as well.
Alcohol,quat sanitzer and bleach will kill it. To sanitize with bleach use a 1% solution.
Clean,Wash your hands and surfaces-Do not cross contaminate-Cook to safe temps. 165* for chickenChill-refridgerate!do not let food sit out in the danger zone (above 40*below 140*)for longer than 2 hours/1 hour if over 90*

[voodoo]

Dirt gets on plants----cross contanination.
Humans get dirt on there hands touch the tomatoes-CC
It's gonna happen!

[midhvac]

It's amazing, but they STILL haven't figured out the SOURCE for the Salmonella on the tomatoes and it's been over 3 weeks. Yesterday's news said they were now suspecting the packing plants or that it might not be originating in tomatoes at all, like maybe from another food that came in contact with them.

I'm just going to put my dinner in the microwave for an hour from now on.