FOOD-BORNE ILLNESS - Fresh fruits and vegetables make up a healthy diet but if not prepared properly, they can make you sick and even be deadly. Shakera Williams of Shreveport is a public health information student and will present a Fruit and Vegetable Safety Program takes place later today at Shreve Memorial Library’s Atkins Branch at 3704 Greenwood Road. Shakera's presentation focuses on food safety and how we can prevent food-borne illness at home. Shakera says it begins with smart-shopping as produce in the store may look fine but upon closer inspection can reveal spoiled or even rotten sections. Keeping fruits and vegetables apart from poultry and meat packages is another factor as contact with those can cross-contaminate produce with bacteria on the package. People should also know that produce gets handled by a lot of people who may not have clean hands when holding produce to examine. Other tips are to thoroughly wash and store produce at home.
And when using a cutting board, keep one board for meat and poultry and one for produce to avoid cross-contamination and always use clean knives for each and wash hands thoroughly. The Fruit and Vegetable Safety Program is free and open to the public. It takes place Wednesday, September 13th from 4-5:00 pm at Shreve Memorial Library's Atkins Branch located at 3704 Greenwood Road in Shreveport.
For more information call: (318) 635-6222 or go to: http://shreve-lib.org
