To Your Health - The Skinny on Party Trays from West Coast Midnight Run

I am sure you have been to a corporate meeting, a conference, where upon arrival the organizers were busy putting up water bottles around the table and then rather than unwrap a bundle of take-out sandwiches, the gentlemen and ladies unwrapped a set of fresh veggie trays with complimentary dip.

With healthy attitudes becoming an almost standard policy in Corporate

America, luncheon meetings are not an opportunity for you to order what your stomach and palate enjoys.

You are the tool of the company and the senior executives invest in your training and in paying for your health benefits and vacation plans.

That would be omitting the huge investment in the rolodex of clients and the portfolio of accounts you manage, not to mention the software that only you and a handful of

others in the company know how to operate to its fullest potential.

So the question on the mind of a few that are health-conscious would not to warn you about your choice of dip in the tray, because many dips pack all of the calories you plan on saving when you crunch on the fresh veggies.

The real issue here is whether the organizers serving up the trays bothered in washing all of the veggies in the pre-packaged tray and whether they offer them in a new company tray or simply unwrap the saran wrap and place the platter on the table.

The question would never arise about

the dip itself because it is a processed food item. Not only is it sealed but it contains artificial food flavorings and stabilizers designed to preserve the food and the apparent freshness.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the large selections of fresh vegetables. These are uncooked vegetables with no preservatives added.

Even though they may have been refrigerated and many if not most have a freshness date somewhere stamped on the plate, these food items are raw and they do decompose and generate bacteria and possibly a host of other undesirable organisms.

Adding to the prospect of oversight is that many supermarkets, including Kroger and Ralphs, advertise that these veggie trays are pre-washed before packaging.

That is a great convenience that may play a factor in making the product look all the more appetizing and delicious.

Pre-washing the vegetables does not in any way remove the fact that these are raw vegetables that are decomposing and are refrigerated, not frozen, in the deli section.

That means that the product is rotting slowly and bacteria and other micro organisms may very well be present.

So as a precaution in the age of newfound health consciousness it would serve us well, since we are serving these platters in greater frequency and numbers, to wash the vegetables thoroughly one more time after they are unwrapped, even if the label says they are pre-washed.

Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports has already urged the Foods and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce legislation already passed last year, and pending in the Senate, for stricter health standards on greens.

Photo Credits

Center of page - Mann’s Veggie Platter

Lower corner - Harry Teeters Veggie Platter

Opposite page - T. Marzetti’s Veggie Platter Combo

Mann’s ®, T. Marzetti’s ®, Harris Teeters ®, Kroger ®, and Ralphs ® are trademarks of their copyright holders.

Photos are used in compliance With the Fair Use clause of the U.S. Copyright Act