Test Your Produce Safety Savvy

How well do you make good produce safety choices? Take the quizzes below to test your knowledge on selecting, storing, and preparing produce. Check out the bonus “produce tips.”

Being healthy includes eating fruits and vegetables, which add nutrients to diets, reduces the risk for heart disease, stroke, and some cancers, and helps manage body weight when consumed in place of more energy-dense foods. But sometimes harmful germs like Salmonella , E. coli , and Listeria,can live on fruits and vegetables and make you and your family sick. (Read about 2016 Salmonella and E. coli outbreaks linked to alfalfa sprouts.)

Test your savvy when selecting, storing, and preparing produce.

Produce Tips:

Before produce shopping, read the current food recalls .
Get fruits and vegetables home and in the refrigerator in two hours or less.

In Your Kitchen

Bagged, pre-washed produce: To wash or not to wash? If the package says that the contents have been pre-washed, you don’t need to wash it before eating.

Produce Tips:

Use a refrigerator thermometer to make sure the temperature stays at 40°F or below.
Clean cutting boards and utensils with hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher (if dishwasher-safe) after each use.
Store raw meat on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator away from fresh produce and ready-to-eat food.