Leafy greens, tomatoes and eggs, oh my! We were almost too scared to eat lunch today after reading a report that included those three favorites of ours among the 10 Riskiest Foods Regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest compiled the list , which they called the "tip of the iceberg" on foods that can spread disease. As far as risky chow goes, the other baddies are tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, sprouts and berries. Gulp. Is nothing safe?
The non-profit group, a strident advocate on nutrition and food-safety issues, is using the report to push for support of a Senate bill that would bolster FDA's authority to regulate food. CPSI compiled the list from a database its been using to track foodborne illness outbreaks since 1990.
Now, we've heard plenty of horror stories like this one in the New York Times this week about dangerous E. coli showing up in hamburgers.
But deadly potatoes? Really?
We listened in on the CSPI conference call about the report and found out that the big problems for potatoes are how people prepare and then store the food. So watch out that you don't leave that batch of creamy potato salad sitting in the picnic sun too long.
Food safety is a real concern, and better FDA regulation might not hurt. Nobody wants more deadly outbreaks like the one involving bagged spinach in 2006, for example. But does a list scaring (already unhealthy) Americans away from vegetables have to be the answer?
A little common sense would go a long way, such as skipping unpasteurized dairy products and maybe choosing cooked oysters instead of raw.
With that in mind, maybe we'll have lunch after all.
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