Blog — causes of food borne illness

Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its list of the most pesticide-laden produce items calls the Dirty Dozen. And every year, it creates a media tidal wave of coverage. It shows up everywhere, and seemingly sets off a storm of fear in the hearts of every fruit and veggie lover, banishing the thought of ever eating a non-organic plant. They even suggest washing with just water.  The question begs, is there really nothing we can do about these harmful pesticides more effective than just rinsing with water – which is highly ineffective with hydrophobic fruits and veggies? Thankfully,...

Image from Scientific American You can’t see them, but if they get into your food, look out. Havoc is about to be wreaked. From a whole range of E.coli strains to Salmonella, Listeria to Norovirus, fresh produce, seafood, poultry and meats are all vulnerable to contamination. Those microscopic pathogens might be invisible to the naked eye, but a food business has to imagine that these little creatures are as big and bold as day, and your single-most important job is to make sure they don’t show up at your doors. It’s a tough break that Chipotle has endured in the...

This is a public service announcement, because the impact of proper food safety practices is so vast. We are greatly concerned by the information being given by thought leaders in the produce and food safety world regarding the efficacy of water alone in cleaning produce. Based on data from FDA.gov and journals such as the Journal of Science and Sustainable Development, it is clear that water and even chlorinated water show much lower than a 1 log reduction of bacteria. This has been corroborated by our own third party studies with Earthbound Farms, the Institute for Food Safety and Micro...