Flooding: Garden/Produce safety

District 11

Alder Bill Tishler

Alder Tishler’s Blog

August 24, 2018 11:46 AM

The following is a message from Barb Ingham, Food Safety Specialist at UW-Madison, regarding the safety of produce from gardens that have been affected by flooding or standing water.

Flooding earlier in the season allows fruits to develop, sunlight (UV radiation) to help with microbial decay, and generally solves a lot of problems. This close to harvest (during the harvest season) we don't have that luxury.

The safest thing to do is to discard all produce from fields where there was a risk of flooding or standing water. But many people will want to salvage at least some of their garden's bounty.

Underground crops (beets, carrots, potatoes) or thick-skinned above ground crops harvested from fields where heavy rain occurred should, if harvested within the next 3-4 weeks, be rinsed with clean water to remove dirt, rinsed in a dilute bleach solution (1 Tablespoon bleach per gallon of water), and peeled before cooking. If the time between flooding and harvest is more than 3-4 weeks, you are basically treating the items as you normally would, and the chlorine bleach rinse can safely be omitted.

Above ground fruits and vegetables which such as tomatoes present some level of risk. These are often above the level of flood waters, but would be splashed with rain or flood water. If a consumer wishes, they can rinse this produce with clean water, rinse in bleach, peel and cook. These crops should not be eaten raw at this time if there was standing water or flooding in the field, even if the fruits are above the water level.

No leafy greens like lettuces should be eaten from any flooded field.

Once we get to September 1st ~ 2 weeks out from flooding and assuming we have had nice sunny, warm weather, it should be OK to eat tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables rawthat were above flood waters. We just need to remember to rinse the fruits and vegetables well before consuming or preparing.

Produce that isn't fit for eating should not be preserved by canning, freezing, drying, etc.

Tags: Flooding, Public Health

Email to a friend

Labels

Budget

Madison Budget Process 101

Uncategorized

Tags

Absentee Voting Advisory Alternate Side of the Street Parking Assessments Ballot Drop Boxes Bike Paths Black Lives Matter Brush Pickup Budget Bus Rapid Transit CARES Census2020 City High Communications Comprehensive Plan Construction Coronavirus Crestwood Crime Prevention CUNA Curfew Development Disaster Relief Dog Park Early in Person Voting Elections Emergency Face Coverings Fall Feedback FEMA Financial Hotline Fire Department Flooding Food Scrap Recycling Forward Dane General Glen Oaks Glenway Green Infrastructure Hill Farms Hilldale Imagine Madison Inclement Weather Information Informational Sessions Lane Closures Large Item Pick Up Leaf Collection Library Madison Yards Mayor Mayor's Neighborhood Conference Meeting Schedule Metro Midtown Police Station Midvale Heights Neighborhood Grants Neighborhood Meetings Neighborhood Safety Online Meeting Parking Parks Plan Commission Police Poll Workers Prescribed BUrns Presentation Property Taxes Public Health Public Health Public Hearing Public Market Recycling Redistricting Redistricting Reopening Road Closures Roads Safer At Home Safety Scams Schools Severe Weather Snow Solar Panels Spring Stormwater Street Sweeping Streets Summer Sunset Village Text Alerts Town Hall Traffic Enforcement Traffic Enforcement Training Sessions Transit Transportation Trash Collection Tree Removal University Avenue Virtual Meeting Vision Zero Water Water Mains Watershed Weekly Meeting Schedule Weekly Update Westgate Westgate Westmorland Wheel Tax Wind Winter Yard Waste

Common Council

District 11

Alder Bill Tishler

Alder Bill Tishler

Alder Tishler’s Blog