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Buying chopped veggies may invite health risks

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For several years, families would go to a local fruit and vegetable market for shopping on a weekly basis, but after the mall wave in the country, the pattern changed drastically.

People began to buy chopped vegetables to cut short the time, chopping would need before one actually begins to cook.

These chopped vegetables are usually cut and put into polystyrene (thermocol) trays, sealed air-tight with a thin film of plastic and stored in a refrigerator that is set to temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius.

Seeing the trend, local vegetable vendors, too, started following this. While they do not have the refrigerating facility, they too sell chopped vegetables and fruits along with their regular wares. These packed vegetables are usually baby corn, broccoli and in some cases, loose garlic.

This trend might have eased the task for some, but has actually brought up many concerns and has given rise to questions of food safety.

Various health experts feel that those who buy chopped fruits and vegetables from the market could actually be compromising their health over the 10 minutes extra they would take to chop those vegetables.

Dr Jyoti Vora, who heads the department of Biochemistry and Food Science and Quality Control at Ramnarain Ruia College, said that the primary problem faced today is food handling. “While handling foods – whether it is your street food or your vegetables – there is a need to use proper gear. Staff should use disposable gloves, wear masks over their face and undergo regular health check-ups that are documented by the company that employs them,” she said.

She added that it is advisable to buy fresh fruits and vegetables rather than buying the chopped versions that are available at the local vendor or at retail stores. “We do not know the date of manufacture. When we see these fruits and vegetables in the store, we do not have a proper date of manufacture or date of expiry. These are factors that consumers need to know before they buy fruits and vegetables,” she added.

Interestingly, despite the availability of loose fruits and veggies on the shelf, Mumbaikars still opt for buying their weekly supplies from the vendor by the kilo, taking them home and then chopping them.

Consumers feel that this is a safer way, and that the vegetables will be better handled by them, rather than a retail store or a vegetable vendor.

Khar resident Sreekant Dass said that one of the factors that draw him and his wife to chop their veggies at home is the price. “The vendors charge extra when they sell chopped vegetables. That’s enough incentive for us to wash our fruits and vegetables at home,” he said.

While, some look at the ease they get by paying a few extra bucks, but many others have resorted back to the older version and have become more conscious. People have actually started bringing raw fruits and vegetables and wash them properly before they actually chop them and cook.

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