One of the advantages of independent living is being able to buy whatever food you like and devour it any time during the 24-hour period. However, one of the disadvantages of independent living is grocery shopping.

With a number of things we have to worry about when stocking up on grub, food safety seldom crosses our minds.

I would like to point your attention to three recent major food-related recalls in hopes of enlightening you on current food safety news and encouraging you to be a more proactive consumer:

1. Cantaloupes. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nationwide Listeria outbreak in cantaloupes is the “deadliest outbreak of a foodborne illness in the United States for more than a decade”.  The fruit has been responsible for 18 deaths in 18 states since the outbreak first began in July. Stay away from the fruit for now – frozen or fresh.
2. Lettuce. If you come across chopped romaine lettuce by True Leaf Farms, don’t buy it. Last week, the company recalled their product from grocery stores after one of the randomly tested packages came back positive for Listeria. While there have been no reports of illnesses associated with ingested lettuce, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urges you to stay away from it.
3. Beef. Raw meat and poultry are always at higher risk for food contamination and must be handled with particular care, but a recent discovery of alarmingly large presence of E. coli in beef urged a California farm to recall large numbers of its product. Unlike the two aforementioned food items, this one is more likely to be in your freezer. While you are digging through your frostbitten food, check if you have Tyson ground beef. It has also been recently recalled due to a potential contamination with E. coli.

Don’t forget to practice safe food standards in the kitchen: washing all produce with warm water before consuming it, cleaning the area that came in contact with raw meat, and washing your hands after cooking.

Click here for more information on other types of foods you should handle with care.