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

contaminated 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

Eggs contaminated

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

contaminated 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

contaminated 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

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.

 

Enlighten Us!!

Are there certain foods that you REFUSE to buy in grocery stores?? What and why??

REFERFRENCES
fda.org
usda.org
medifasthealth.org