US: Consumer Reports’ riskiest foods include fresh produce

Consumer Reports (CR) has published a list of the ten riskiest and most recalled foods on the market. Fresh produce does not come off well. Indeed, five of the most recalled items are fresh fruits and vegetables: leafy greens, onions, papayas, peaches, and cantaloupe. (See attached chart for the full list and rankings.)“We aren’t saying people need to avoid these foods entirely,” says Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at CR, who led the analysis. “After all, these foods are all usually safe, and many of them are in fact important parts of a healthy diet.”Instead, he says, the list underscores the “importance of following best food safety practices with all of your foods, including knowing how to track, and respond, to food recalls when they happen.”Leafy greens came out on top.“Outbreaks traced to leafy greens were responsible for the most deaths in our analysis, and the second largest number of recalls and outbreaks—50, in fact, compared with 30 for chicken, turkey, and ...