Consume raw veggies after proper cleaning

Come summer and we almost instantly swap the hot, fried pakoras with the so-called cooling foods. Salads with uncooked veggies form an important part of the cooling repertoire of foods. There is little doubt that eating raw salads prepared with fresh leafy vegetables, cabbage and various other veggies and fruits is a great idea if you want to be healthy, but one cannot overlook the fact that even the most nutritious raw food could be harmful in the absence of  certain hygienic precautions taken during preparation.

It is widely believed that only meats or flesh foods become infectious when prepared unhygienically. While that is true for all undercooked meats, and especially pork and sushi (with raw fish), this also stands true for the vegetarian foods, particularly the leafy vegetables. When eaten raw, these foods could be just as dangerous.

The culprit here is tapeworm, a parasite, that could be lurking in these foods, posing a serious health hazard. Tapeworm (and its eggs), which comes from the faeces of pigs, finds its way into the soil where these leafy veggies grow. If we were to eat these leaves without adequate washing and cleaning, the parasite could reach our intestine. This could mark the beginning of many problems, as the tapeworm finds way to our various organs, including the brain.

This is why the emphasis on washing veggies properly can never be enough. The simple act of washing with adequate tap water is in itself an important first step. A soft brush could facilitate this process especially if the skin of the vegetable has grooves, like that of carrot and melon. This removes the dirt and soil sticking to the produce, as well as much of the pesticides and microorganisms. 

Extra precautions need to be taken when a vegetable or fruit has to be eaten raw, like lettuce. For leaves that have to be eaten raw, it would be best to immerse them in a bowl of clean water for a few minutes. As the next step you could choose from either of the following two methods to ensure safety. Prepare a solution in the ratio of ½ cup vinegar to 1 cup water and soak the leaves in this solution.

Rinse off with drinking water. Or, soak the leaves in a bowl of water to which hydrogen peroxide solution has been added. One capful of the solution to a litre of water is a powerful disinfectant. Immerse the leaves in this solution and let it stand for at least 5 minutes. Rinse off well with clean potable water.In case you cannot clean the raw produce properly, it would make sense to give the leafy salad a pass.