Momma always said: "Eat Plenty of Veggies".. so what's this?

An article from CNNMoney.com caught my attention the other day,as I was scoping and hoping to find something "juicy" to write about for my latest blog. This one isn't about the David LettermanDavid Letterman fiasco, the Iraq War, the latest on Jon and Kate or Brad and Angelina or Kayne West or even the swine flu--it's about something that's actually, in what I thought was always good for you, is vegetables!

The name of the article was "Lettuce and eggs top risky food list". At first I was like, "no way" and "uh-uhh.." Shook and head in disbelief but kept reading.

The article, written by CNNMoney staff writer, Aaron SmithAaron Smith, pointed out that leafy greens, including lettuce and spinach top the list of 10 riskiest foods, according to a study from a nutrition advocacy group released Tuesday.

The group's name is The Center for Science inthe Public Interest and they named the following foods the "most risky" in terms of outbreaks:

Leafy vegetables, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, spouts and berries.

I know what you're thinking because I am thinking the same thing! Leafy vegetables are high in iron- especially spinach. Cheese is a good source of calcium and tuna has omega-3. How can all these be bad for us?

The scientists rated these foods, the article said, all of them regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, by the number of outbreaks associated with these foods since 1990 and also provided the number of recorded illnesses.

The severity of the illnesses ranged from stoamch aches to death, the center said. With leafy vegatables such as lettuce, the top cause of illness were pathogens like E. coli, Norovirus and Salmonella in foods tahtwere not properly washed.

Over the past 20 years, leafy vegatables caused 363 outbreaks, resulting in 13, 568 reported illnesses, the article said.

Sarah Klein, a satff lawyer who helped prepare the study added, "Leafy greens are healthy but unfortunately, they are associated with food-borne illness."

In all, the top 10 foods resulted in more than 1, 500 outbreaks, totalling nearly 50,000 reported cases, according to the center.

I know that properly washing your food is the safest thing to do when it comes to food handling. " You can never wash your fruits and veggies enough," my mom used to say. Rinse them out 3 or 4 times, let 'em soak awhile, to get all the "junk" out!

When you eat out at a resturant, you are at that resturant's mercy because you don't know what they do behind closed doors. You hope and pray that the food was prepared according to strict regulations.

I have worked in a few restuarants in my time and trust me, resturant workers cut corners because they can. They don't always wash their hands, they cheat.. I'm not going to get on that subject but some of the things I have witnessed as a resturant worker have completely grossed me out.

For more on this article, go to cnnhealth.com, diet and fitness section

The name of the article is called Lettuce and eggs top risky food list.

For more on this article, go to Cnnhealth.com

go to diet and fitness and click on name of article "Lettuce and eggs top risky food list"