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.
Funny that you speak so much about organic foods and the extra cost. I am actually doing a 8 page research paper for my English class and my topic is “Organic Foods – Are they really better?” I hope to really look into this and find out the pros and cons to ourselves and the environment. Loving your blog even more. Thanks for sharing Monique!
Hi, organic foods cost a bit more, but they are so worth it when it comes to your health and well-being. There is a substantial amount of harmful chemicals in conventional and processed foods. Anti-freeze in ice cream, foods made with high-fructose corn syrup, (which is made with mold and sulphuric acid, and sulphuric acid is battery fluid). A lot of people don’t believe it, but it’s true. Artificial food colors in foods that are made with coal-tar, carmine is used for coloring drinks and other foods and it’s made with ground up insects. I could go on, but you get the picture. Organic foods are so much better than industrialized, man-made foods.
For non-organic fruits and vegetables, you have to scrub them with soap and water if you want to get rid of most of the bacteria and pesticides. Scrubbing in addition to washing with soap and water works really well.
As far as preventing cross-contamination with the methods of rinsing off meats, you are actually increasing the chances of cross-contamination because you are using additional materials and moving them.
Maybe you meant to decrease the chances of consuming bacteria or killing bacteria on the meats.
“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”
These are bacteria that can infect your digestive system. If they are found in chicken, rinsing the meats with whatever solution will not kill them, since there still is blood in the meats. Cooking them properly will…since the blood still in the meats will be cooked OUT of the meats.
I wonder if anyone washes ground meat?
If you can’t pronounce more than three words for the ingredients listed on a product, then you should stay away from it. We are a nation that consumes too much artificial ingredients and preservatives…definitely not good for your body.
Don’t you know the artificial stuff and preservatives affect the biochemistry of your body and as a result can affect your moods and emotions?
About the chicken nuggets and hot dogs..I agree with that. Especially the hot dogs. I either buy all beef hot dogs with actual beef not just parts or fillers and one of the brands I choose is Hebrew National.
I’m checking out the Paleo Diet myself.
Great info!!!
Hey Ladies, Glad you are informing the public of food dangers…Floride in water and toothpaste, Splenda, Diet Coke, Oreos are all highly toxic foods and cause serious health problems…Ladies look up the facts yourself and stay away from anything with floride or aspartame in it. ” To Know is Better than to not know”…Love ya
WOW I became a vegetarian earlier this year just to be healthier but it’s sad that it could be a lot worse in the fruits/veggies out here. Everything is so cosmetic; I’ll admit that I even go for the biggest prettiest apple in the barrel. To Whole Foods I go… atleast until this city girl can grow a fruitful garden! lol
One more thing, do you and your family eat chicken nuggets or hot dogs? If so, I think you should check out a couple of videos on Youtube that show how chicken nuggets and hot dogs are really made. It’s disgusting and I was grossed out when I saw the videos. Have you learned about GMO,(genetically modified organisms) yet? It’s in just about everything that consumers buy at the grocery store. The term “natural” really doesn’t mean a thing because the foods still can have GMO ingredients in them. I buy organic. People make the excuse that real foods that are organic cost too much, or that you must be a hippie if you want real foods.
Right on NEELI!!!!- For the past 15 years or so my family has been doing organic.. milk, eggs,etc.. and it is so worth it. The food is so defiled these days. Obviously we all cant get access to things that are fresh off the farm, myself as well at times and I am a big walmart shopper, but its educating yourself and doing what you can to keep your family healthy and safe.
You’re right, Nikita. It’s all about doing the best that you can when it comes to food. It has to be a gradual process so the new changes can stick. I’m also teaching my 6 year old daughter about real foods and what harmful ingredients are in processed foods. I make bread, bagels, and other baked goods from scratch and it’s fun and easy. I cook with my daughter sometimes, but I have to get her in the kitchen more often. I’m proud and happy to see more people in the black community taking charge of their health. Good for you and your family for eating real foods.
Monique, I’m loving the fact that you’re venturing out and posting these kind of topics. Food Inc really opened my eyes about the industrialized food that most people have been raised on and it’s time to start supporting your local famers and shopping at farmer’s markets. The tasted of free-range eggs from pastured chickens are so much better than conventional eggs. I’ve been studying and researching foods for the last 5 years and I no longer buy processed foods or regular milk. I didn’t eat them that often anyway, but I would use cream of mushroom soups and things similar to that. I think the USDA and FDA need to stop bedding down with these big agribusinesses and start regulating these food companies so that we’re not getting sick. It goes much deeper than simply rinsing off your foods. I’ve done enough research to know what’s really going on and people have to educate themselves about real foods. Time to get back to the basics and eat like grandma.