reported<\/a> 1,645 confirmed domestic cases, which is \u201csubstantially higher than the 249 cases\u201d reported at the same time last year. Here are his answers to my questions about his kitchen, eating out and what to give the kids for dinner tonight.<\/p>\nSign up for the Food & Drink newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n
THANK YOU!<\/p>\n
You’re all set.<\/p>\n
CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Your produce at home<\/p>\n
Observer:\u00a0Is anything different happening in your kitchen\u00a0at home right now? Are you changing\u00a0up how you wash produce, swapping out bagged salads for whole heads or avoiding certain summer berries\u00a0entirely?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Rohde: Personally,\u00a0I haven\u2019t made any drastic changes because the overall risk for any individual remains relatively low. However, I do what I always recommend: thoroughly rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water before eating or preparing them, even if they\u2019re labeled \u2018pre-washed.\u2019 I don\u2019t rely on soap or commercial produce washes because they haven\u2019t been shown to eliminate\u00a0Cyclospora. During an active outbreak, I also pay closer attention to public health advisories and will avoid products that have been specifically linked to an outbreak until they\u2019re cleared. At the moment, I\u2019m avoiding things that are historically linked to these types of\u00a0Cyclospora\u00a0outbreaks. I think this is especially relevant if (1) you or your loved ones are immunocompromised in any way; and (2) if you live in a state that is showing high caseloads.<\/p>\n
Eating out<\/p>\n
Observer:\u00a0What about eating out? When you hit local restaurants,\u00a0are you quietly asking them to hold the cilantro? Or are you just eating out normally and trusting the kitchen?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Rohde: I still eat out and enjoy supporting local restaurants. I don\u2019t routinely ask for ingredients like cilantro to be removed unless there\u2019s a specific public health advisory involving that item. Restaurants work hard to follow food safety practices, but\u00a0Cyclospora\u00a0contamination typically occurs before produce even reaches the kitchen\u2014often during growing, harvesting, or processing. That\u2019s why rapid outbreak detection, traceback investigations, and strong food safety systems are so important. This answer changes, however, IF \u201cWE\u201d FIND a particular food distribution center or restaurant [single or chain] is part of the \u201csource\u201d chain of contamination.<\/p>\n
Can the kids have fruit?<\/p>\n
Observer:\u00a0And what\u00a0about the kids? For families trying to keep their kids safe, is raw fruit out for the rest of the year? What\u2019s a practical rule of thumb you tell your family?<\/p>\n
Fresh fruits and vegetables remain an important part of a healthy diet \u2014 unless there is a reason to be more concerned [see answer #1]. I don\u2019t want families avoiding nutritious foods because of one outbreak. My advice is simple: rinse fresh produce well under running water, keep an eye on FDA, CDC and state outbreak announcements, and avoid those products that have been specifically identified in recalls or outbreak investigations. The goal is to be informed about caution, not fear. Public health works best when people stay informed and continue making healthy choices.<\/p>\n
A note on surveillance and food safety<\/p>\n
One of the most important things to remember is that outbreaks like this highlight why we invest in public health surveillance, food safety, and clinical laboratory testing. Those systems help identify problems quickly so the public can make informed decisions while continuing to enjoy a healthy, balanced diet.<\/p>\n
See a full interview<\/a> with Dr. Rohde on LiveNOW Fox for a lot more information about washing fruit and vegetables, farmers markets and more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top view of a lettuce growing on a farm. Green lettuce plant grow in vegetable garden. Getty Images…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,106000],"class_list":["post-375059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-science-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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