5 Dirtiest Foods In Your Shopping Cart!
It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for a good food-related documentary. I love learning about food, where it comes from, how it affects the body and so on. The documentary Food Inc is by far my favorite!
I was at the dentist office when I caught the tail end of a news clip about the dirtiest foods in the supermarket. I almost didn’t even hear the dentist call my name because I was so engrossed and grossed!
After some googling I was shocked to learn so much about common foods that I purchase regularly at my supermarket that have such high contamination rates!
Needless to say I’ve been hitting up Farmers Markets and buying organic a lot lately.
Check out the list of dirtiest supermarket foods and tell me what you think.
1.) Peaches
I LOVE peaches and usually buy them from the grocery store so I wasn’t thrilled to hear about this one! Peach skins are loaded with pesticides to keep them looking all pretty and stuff. The USDA says on average, a single peach can have as many as nine different pesticides. Buying organic is the best option, although they may not be as pretty and blemish free. I’m ok with that.
2.) Eggs
I can’t remember what I read about eggs a few years ago that made me to start raising my own chickens. The saying “healthy chickens lay healthy eggs” is so true. I can certainly tell the difference in the taste of my free-ranged chicken eggs and the ones in the supermaket. Chickens are severely mistreated in these huge “mills” and often pumped with a ton of hormones in order to crank out tons of eggs in a day. So not normal! If you can’t raise your own chickens or buy from a local organic hatchery, it’s worth it to pay a lil extra for organic eggs at the supermarket. Make sure that the carton says free-ranged and organic. Also be sure to inspect all the eggs in the carton to make sure there are no tiny cracks or leaks.
3.) Cantaloupe
The FDA sampled domestically grown cantaloupe and found that 3.5 percent carried Salmonella and Shigella. Shigella is passed from person to person. Always wash your hands after touching produce in the supermarket and always scrub your canteloupe really well. 7 percent of imported melons tested positive for both. Now ….I’m not one to trust the FDA too much, so when they give out a number for something I usually multiply a few times.
4.) Chicken
Ok so apparently Consumer Reports tested 484 raw broiler chicken (the kind found in the grocery stores) and found that 42 percent were infected with Camplybacter (I don’t know what the crap that is but I’m sure I don’t want to eat it ) and 12 percent with Salmenella entrerides. If you are buying from a supermarket, choose organic, free-ranged chickens. Chickens that are kept in close quarters allows for diseases to breed and grow. They do cost more, but worth it in my opinion. Also be careful to not cross-contaminate. Here is how myself and other readers prep their raw chicken to prevent cross-contamination.
5.) Lettuce
Contaminated lettuce made up 11 percent of reported food-poisoning outbreaks from 1990 to 2002. Salad accounted for 28 percent! Never trust the “triple washed” saying on some packages. One mediocre home washing could be equivalent to their “triple washing” standards. So be sure to thoroughly wash all greens. Prepped bagged greens are no better than the loose ones. Buy organic and local if possible and wash them at home.
These are just a few of the dirtiest items found in the supermarket but the list goes on to include items like cold cuts, scallions, ground turkey and more.
Go vegan.
“Free-range” however, does not mean at all that the chickens are treated well. Generally “free-range” means that the animals are not kept in cages. However, they are commonly confined indoors, sometimes in very crowded conditions.
http://www.veganpeace.com/animal_cruelty/eggs.htm
I get my infos at Dirty Dozen, number one fruit that’s packed with pesticides is Apple, I bought my fruits and veggies all organic, anyway here’s the site http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Thank you so much for posting! Yes my husband and i are very much aware of the sad fact of the food dangers out there! We shop mostly organic and cook everything homemade from bread to crackers and whatever else possible with the best ingredients we can find. Yes the fda cannot be trusted we must look out for our health and support organic farmers.
Vaccinations is part of the New World Order Genocide being administered throughout the world! Check out Alex Jones “The End Game” and my husbands site on youtube… gathering144. They are active in getting the truth out so sound the horns ladies and let the truth prevail….blessings and greetings.
you all are on it!!! I’m slowly starting to clean up my diet. It’s not easy for me but I’m taking baby steps. I’ve learned a lot from reading these responses though!! Thank you!!!
Monique, I’m proud of you for taking steps to eating better. It’s really hard to do, especially if you’re accustomed to eating certain foods. As I said above, I’m really happy to see more people in the black community learning about real foods and the dangers of eating processed, man-made foods that have been made in chemistry labs. I also have been learning about the harmful ingredients in vaccinations, but the doctors won’t tell you anything about that. I believe the vaccines have had a negative affect on my daughter and I want to tell people that they really have to learn what’s in our food, vaccinations, skincare products, and other things that we are using on a regular basis. This is what I want to do as a career goal, educate people on how to go green and live a healthy life free of toxic chemicals.
I’m right there with ya honey! Especially on them vaccinations! I catch hell whenever I take my son to the doctor because he is 3 and not immunized. I’m not anti-vaccines I just prefer them given in small doses, after a certain age and greener is possible. I just don’t understand why they require injecting so many different things into kids while their brains are developing so quickly at that age. Oh lawd, let me hush! I can go on and on about this.
Neeli I can tell you are passionate about this and I appreciate all the wonderful & informative comments you leave on my blog. Knowledge is power and we definitely need it, especially in the black community like you said.
Thanks Monique. Yes, I’m very passionate when it comes to real foods and green living. I want more people to learn about what it means to eat real food. I heard a saying that if your grandmother can’t pronounce the ingredients then don’t eat it. I wish I would’ve known what I now know about the ingredients in vaccinations. Mercury, MSG, eggs, sugar, disinfecting agents, formaldehyde, and the list goes on. You have the right as a parent to object to getting your son vaccinated if you choose not to. If I were in your situation, I would do a lot of research about vaccines and then decide if you want to get your son vaccinated of not. No one can force you to get him vaccinated and the schools won’t tell you that there are exemptions to this either. I’m not trying to tell you what to do when it comes to your child because only you know what’s best for him, but I wish I knew the dangers of all the chemicals and toxins in the shots before I got my daughter vaccinated and I don’t want to see innocent kids suffering with learning disabilities due to these shots. Keep up the good work and you inspire me with your positivity.