40 mg of sand with 100 gm of raisins, please!
Do you know the defect action level of the dried beans you bought or the curry powder that you just used to make that sumptuous meal? When I first heard the term, it sounded like a war strategy! In lay people’s language, the level of mould, bugs, sand etc. in your food that are considered acceptable and non hazardous to humans.
I briefly caught a local news piece on foreign materials in food, and the levels of adulteration that are considered okay. While trying to find out more details on what was considered acceptable, I found the following link to US Food and Drug Administration’s Defect Levels Handbook
For those of us in Canada, here is a link to Canada’s Food Inspection Agency
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/agen/agene.shtml
After reading through the handbook, it made me wonder what more can our governments and us as consumers do to ensure that our food is less adulterated. How certain are we of organic food produce being less adulterated?
I will continue to buy my dried beans and lentils and let it pass my own quality control test. However, I think for now I am going to pass on buying pre-ground spices and make my own – the old fashioned way. I thought I share a couple of food washing/cleaning tips. I would love to know how you clean your vegetables and fruit.
- Food cleaning tips
a. Beans/lentils: I like to rinse the beans with warm water at least twice before soaking them in a pot. Rinse them again in a colander before cooking.
b. Greens: It doesn’t matter if the package says triple washed, I still prefer washing my greens and in a large bowl. I like to soak them for a while, as all the sand settles in the bowl. A friend of mind advised me to wash my vegetables in vinegar, as it kills bacteria. When she told me to do so it just seemed painstaking; however, this article surely makes me rethink.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14540742
c. Fruit: Even if the fruit can be peeled, I prefer to wash it if I plan to cut the fruit.
d. Of course, the golden rules to avoid cross contamination are ensuring your hands are washed and the cooking surfaces cleaned.
e. Whole spices: My amala used to air them out in the sun for a couple of days before she ground them. I am sure this would remove the mould etc. scientifically I am not sure how effective this is.
Category: Featured Articles: Food Politics, Featured Articles: Health & Nutrition, Food Politics, Health & Nutrition
Ewwwwww. Mammalian excretion and insect HAIR?! I guess I knew all this stuff exists in our food, but to read it spelled out in terms of quantity and type is a little foul. Eww, Ewww, Ewwwww. My guess is that organic foods would have more of these ‘defects’ in the food as it isn’t grown using pesticides?
Exactly my reaction. But any day would prefer removing natural foreign matter out of my food, than knowing that my food was sprayed with chemicals. But still would love to read more about ways to reduce such adulterants.