Scrubbing cantaloupes with a brush would not have prevented 33 people from dying in 2011 in Colorado, and three from dying in Kentucky in 2012.

Washing produce of any kind is of little effectiveness – although it may make you feel better in a faith-based food safety system —  and that’s why food safety starts on the farm.

Vicki Carlton, program manager of the Pueblo City-County Health Department’s consumer protection program told The Pueblo Chieftain raw fruits and vegetables are the biggest emerging problems, and that, “Back in the day, you got more locally.”

Like those cantaloupes from Colorado?

Justin Gage, an environmental health specialist with the health department, recommends washing bananas, too, because of bacteria and chemicals that are likely to be on the peel.

Has there been a microbial outbreak of anything associated with bananas?