HOW SAFE ARE IMPORTED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES?
Sources • WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Judy Creighton Canadian Press Linda Pugsley of Burlington, Ont. was quoted as saying in this story that, “When it comes to vegetables grown in Mexico or Latin America, it is the irrigation I worry about. I feel uncertain about fruit from countries using pesticides and fungicides. That’s why I always wash soft-skinned fruits like plums, grapes and nectarines in soap and water.’’ The story says she soaked some imported fruits in a bowl of water and noticed chemical residue floating on the top – and that just added to her apprehension. Marilyn Lee, a professor in the school of environmental health at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto was cited as saying that the perception that imported produce, especially from Latin American countries, is not always safe to eat is very real, and that farming practices aren’t well inspected in Central America (uhh?? see below — dp), adding, “There is little or no monitoring done there unless there is an outbreak li
