Part 2: How to eliminate toxic chemicals and bacteria from your food

May 20, 2025

Our food supply is being threatened daily by bacteria and toxic pesticide chemicals

These sort of news reports have become all too commonplace:

“CDC Warns of New E. coli Outbreak Linked to Organic Carrots”¹

“Deadly E. coli Outbreak Hits 15 States, But the FDA Chose Not to Publicize It”²

“Fresh and Frozen Strawberries Highly Contaminated with Pesticides”³

“Pesticides Pose a Significant Risk in 20% of Fruits and Vegetables”⁴

Even certain cleaning products have spread harmful bacteria into our homes:

“Colgate-Palmolive Recalls Multi-Purpose Cleaners Due to Risk of Exposure to Bacteria”⁵

“Over 8 Million Laundry and Cleaning Products Recalled Due to Possible Bacteria Contamination”⁶

The number of safety alerts and recalls related to food contamination with bacteria and toxic chemicals have become so numerous that the FDA now maintains a public database with new entries being added nearly every day!⁷

The purpose of this article is to inform you about these health threats and to share some practical ideas of how you can protect your home from these persistent pathogens.

Washing is not enough to kill E. coli on foods

“No matter how well you wash, it’s not going to kill it [E. coli],” stated Dr. Beth Oller. Dr. Celine Gounder, a CBS Medical Contributor and Editor-at-Large for Public Health, agrees, “While washing vegetables can help remove dirt, pesticides and some bacteria on the surface, it isn’t enough to kill all E. coli on foods.”⁸

Freezing food doesn’t work either. Freezing pauses bacterial growth, but once food is thawed, E. coli can grow and multiply again.

Some strains of E. coli are heat resistant and can survive cooking temperatures as high as 160°F. Using a food thermometer, if you can confirm that the food reaches an internal temperature of at least 165°F you can be assured that the E. coli bacteria have been destroyed. But what if you don’t want to cook all of your fruit and vegetables at 165°F?

There is a safer way to eliminate bacteria, viruses, and pesticides on food

The good news is that nature has provided a way to kill bacteria, inactivate viruses, and remove pesticides from the surface of your food. The same molecule that is created by the immune systems in our bodies to protect from infection — called hypochlorous — is now available in a bottle! Hypochlorous acid has been proven to kill a broad spectrum of the most difficult to kill bacteria and viruses, including E. coli, total coliform, listeria, salmonella, streptococcus, pseudomonas, Covid-19, rhinovirus, and hundreds of other bacterial and viral species. And best of all, hypochlorous, when produced at concentrations below 200 parts per million (ppm) has been approved by both the EPA and the FDA for use on food and food contact surfaces.^9,10

To apply the hypochlorous to your food, we recommend first rinsing with water to remove any dirt, dust or pesticide residues. Then use a spray bottle of hypochlorous and spray it directly on the fruit, vegetable, meat — or any other food — and let the food air-dry. The hypochlorous will do its job of killing the bacteria and inactivating any viruses, and it will also react with and oxidize remaining pesticide residues. After completing its job, the hypochlorous reverts back to its original ingredients which is a solution of salt and vinegar that is so dilute that it is imperceptible to taste.

While you are at it, don’t forget to disinfect the surfaces that touch your food. For example, cutting boards are notorious for harboring salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. After use, wash the cutting boards, countertops, and other kitchen equipment that comes into contact with food with soap and water. Then spray the hypochlorous solution onto the cutting board and other surfaces and let them air-dry.

Bonus advantage - extending the shelf life of fresh fruit and vegetables

The reason that bananas turn brown, lettuce wilts, and other fruits and vegetables spoil prematurely is because — you guessed it — there is bacteria growing on these food surfaces. You can extend the shelf life of fruits, berries, and vegetables by proactively spraying them with hypochlorous. Use the same spray bottle that you use to disinfect food contact surfaces to liberally spray any fruit or vegetable. Let the food air-dry, then store in the refrigerator or other location as normal. You will find that the texture, taste and smell of the fruit and vegetables will remain healthy for days longer than the same food that is not first disinfected with hypochlorous. After about 10 minutes, all of the hypochlorous reverts back to a dilute saline solution so there is no rinsing required, there will be no residual chemical on the food at all.

You have many choices, choose green!

There are many different brands of hypochlorous acid on the market today, as the advantages of hypochlorous are rapidly becoming better known each day. When choosing your brand of hypochlorous, we recommend that you use the product from The Hypochlorous Company. We offer the only product in the world that is registered by the EPA as a Broad Spectrum Disinfectant, is Certified Organic by the USDA and is approved for use on food and food contact surfaces. And only the Hypochlorous^TM Cleaner & Disinfectant has been approved by the EPA to label its product as “Green,” “Non-Toxic,” and “Nature’s Germ Killer.”

Avoid the risks of allowing bacteria or pesticide contaminated food to remain in your home. Clean and disinfect all food entering your home with the all-natural Hypochlorous Cleaner & Disinfectant.

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