Don't forget to wash fruits and vegetables

I washed these blueberries before eating them with cereal.

I bought a 2-pound package of blueberries at Costco Wholesale with a label that really caught my eye.

The clear-plastic label, used to seal the clam-shell package, carried the name of the grower, Townsend Farms, told me the berries came from the United States, and finished with a warning:

"Food safety is everyone's responsibility. Wash all fresh fruits and vegetables prior to eating," the label stated.

And it provided the address of a government Web site: 

Food Safety

I looked at the site, which carries a nearly 4-minute video and lists of dos and don'ts for fruits and vegetables, as well as meat, seafood and dairy.

Silent packages

Most produce I buy at Costco, ShopRite and H Mart comes in packages that are silent on the use of herbicides and pesticides or they are sold loose.

At Costco, some of the hothouse-grown produce from Canada appears to be free of herbicides, according to the packaging.

But unless you buy organic produce at Whole Foods Market, you're never sure how fruits and vegetables are grown.

Here is a Web site with a guide to buying produce grown with pesticides:

2012 Shopper's Guide 

Here is one of the FAQs on the site.

"Do all these pesticides mean I shouldn't eat fruits and vegetables?

"No, eat your fruits and vegetables! The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure."

From the garden

Produce from my garden, where we lose a lot of stuff to squirrels and a rabbit.

We don't treat any of the fruits and vegetables we grow in our garden, but we lose a lot of stuff to squirrels and a rabbit, which we have seen in and around our yard since we moved in 5 years ago.

We planted a peach tree, but haven't enjoyed any of the peaches. The squirrels eat them, even when the fruit is small, hard and green.

Today, I picked several cherry tomatoes and noticed a large, green tomato 10 feet from the patch that was partially eaten and left on the grass. 


Sweet as honey? 

I saw this box of watermelons behind the scenes at H Mart in Little Ferry.

Watermelon fertilized with honey?

I was shopping at H Mart in Little Ferry recently when I asked to use the bathroom, and was directed to the back of the store and through a door to a storage area.

A box of Candy brand watermelons carried these words: "Fertilized with honey."

Does any of the honey get into the melon or is it just a marketing gimmick?