Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of the healthiest diets, but it's important to know that raw produce can expose you to harmful germs. Consuming contaminated fruits and vegetables can increase your risk of developing foodborne illness, according to the Food and Drug Administration and there have been concerning outbreaks over the past few years from contaminated lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and cantaloupe. The list of potentially harmful pesticides used to preserve produce have caused so much concern that there's an annual ranking of the produce with the most pesticides called the "Dirty Dozen." That right there is a lot of transport," says Carissa Galloway, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a Premier Protein Nutrition Consultant and Personal Trainer. To protect yourself from eating fruits and vegetables that are contaminated, the FDA strongly encourages you to clean your produce before eating them.

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Persons: Carissa Galloway Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, Protein Nutrition, FDA Locations: Galloway