It is important to properly wash fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten raw will.
Fruits and vegetables can become contaminated in our hands for a very simple reason: they grow in soil. Just for this reason and we should take some precautions so that dirt and microorganisms do not contaminate our hands, cooking surfaces or even other foods.
The hazards associated with plant foods are insects, larvae, worms, stones and soil, pesticides and herbicides, as well as microbes that might be present in the soil and in irrigation water: Salmonella, Listeria. E. coli, several types of viruses. Years ago were a very common cause of disease because the veterinary inspection was not as thorough as it is today, the animals were in the gardens, ate vegetables that grow in the streams, such as watercress or lettuce (now only cultivated can market) and sold in individual product markets, without any sanitary control. At present, the risk is relatively low, but not negligible; therefore we will treat as contaminated food.
Given this, we will give some guidelines for washing fruits and vegetables:
Before washing the vegetables, wash your hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds, rinse them thoroughly and dry with kitchen paper or single use towel textile which regularly wash 60 ° C. And use food preparation gloves before start to wash.
Wash all produce before peeling, cutting and preparing to cook them and eat them. Thus, when using the knife, bacteria and dirt will not contaminate the food in contact between the pulp and peel.
Use work surfaces and utensils (knives, brushes, etc…) Clean, dry and have not been in contact with other foods. Once the process is complete, clean the surfaces that have been in contact with dirty vegetables.
Reject the outer leaves of lettuce, endive, cabbage, endive, etc.. Wash the lettuce leaf by leaf.
Use a clean brush to remove dirt from the mushrooms and firmly scrub products with a hard outer surface or rough like potatoes, melons and cucumbers.
Remove and reject sections of fruit and vegetables with mushrooms, wounds, cuts or overripe and damaged areas.
Wash the herbs like cilantro, parsley, celery and mint in small bunches, turning them over until all branches are clean.
Return to wash vegetables with water, peeled and cut once.
Dry clean products with paper towels or a clean, dry cloth to remove any remaining bacteria.
Keep clean and dry vegetables in the refrigerator until ready to use or consume, avoiding any that come into contact with unwashed vegetables so they do not become contaminated again.
In short, you have to wash fruits and vegetables should carefully and keep them separate from other foods cooling to prevent cross contamination.