Viral Hack To Increase Avocado Life May Be Harmful - Warns FDA

If you are always excited about discovering new food hacks and kitchen tips rolling out every day on the internet, you must have seen this one as well. A simple hack to keep avocados fresh for a long time made waves on the internet and caught people's fancy. Let's admit that avocados are a bit on the expensive side and they rot just as quickly as they ripen. When you buy a bunch of avocados, oftentimes, some of them go bad before you can use them. The hack that went viral on the internet suggested that avocados will stay fresh for up to two weeks (maybe, even a month) if submerged in water in an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator. 

Here is the avocado hack that went viral: 

Also Read: How To Make The All-Time Favourite Avocado Toast For Breakfast In Just 5 Mins

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All was good until a report by FDA (U.S. Food and Drugs Administration) vitiated it and warned against following this practice. According to a report in Newsweek, an FDA spokesperson said, "The FDA does not recommend this practice. The main concern is with the possibility that any residual human pathogens (i.e. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., etc.) that may be residing on the avocado surface, may potentially multiply during the storage when submerged in water." 

So, this means that bacteria living on the surface of the avocado can stay on and even multiply, and then possibly perpetrate the skin and get inside the fruit. And when we eat the fruit after days of contamination, it may lead to several health issues. 

Nutrition In Avocado: Health Benefits Of This 'Fatty' Fruit

Avocado is used to make many dishes. 

We also found previous research done by the FDA in which the agency tested 1,615 samples of avocados to determine the presence of pathogens. FDA found the overall prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in the avocado pulp samples to be 0.24 percent and in the avocado skin samples to be 17.73 percent. 

FDA, in the past, had also issued an advisory to wash all the fruits and vegetables properly before cutting them because bacteria from the knife can transfer to the edible part. Here are some tips to wash your fruits and vegetables properly.