Salmonella Scare: Is it Time to Stop Eating Store Bought Vegetables and Fruit?

It seems like every year a new vegetable or fruit is suspect of causing hundreds of cases of food poisoning through Salmonella all over the country. For those of you that are unaware of exactly what salmonella, let's just say it is not the most pleasant experience in the world.

A Salmonella infection is usually caused by the mishandling of food by growers or sellers of the product. Once you ingest salmonella cells it only takes the pathogen between 6-72 hours to gestate into a full blown illness. Once salmonella has taken hold of your body it can cause gastroenteritis or even Typhoid Fever or Bacteremia.

The basic warning signs of Salmonella food poisoning are vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, joint pain, and headaches. More sever symptoms can include infection of the tissue around the brain stem and spinal cord, or enlargement of the liver and spleen. Small exposure can lead to just an uncomfortable night spent in the bathroom, but with a larger dose or for children and the elderly, Salmonella can be deadly.

With all the horrible things that come with this infection, is it time to go back to tending our own gardens? Although this may be a cost effective and safer option (including being chemical free), even a home garden can leave you open to bacterial infections or for some people there is just not enough space for gardening to be an option for them.

So what else can we do? First off is thoroughly washing your fruits and vegetables not just with water but with special products on the market made specifically for the cleansing of food that will be ingested. You can also opt out of eating the peal of vegetables such as apples or cucumbers. If you can peel it, it's probably better for you since that is where most bacteria and chemicals thrive. This is a double edged sword however, since the peel for many foods is where most of the vitamins and minerals are located.

A final thought is that if we get so scared to eat store bought fruits and vegetables because of outbreaks, we will have to stop buying all foods at the grocery store. The past has been riddled with outbreaks on not only fruits and vegetables but also Malt-O-Meal, Banquet Pot Pies, orange juice, Peter Pan peanut butter, and the list goes on and on.

This world is full of things that can hurt us at any time and anywhere. That is why it's so important that we not give up on living life, we just change the way in which we live it. Opt for organic foods if you can afford it. Wash your food before you eat it. Keep your eye on expiration dates on labels. Watch the news for outbreak and act accordingly. If we over react to everything that comes at us in this world we will not only will be hurting ourselves, but we will also be hurting United States industry as a whole.