Sweet Sapote Is Swell Source of Sustenance

Dear Dr. Blonz: I wonder if you have any information about the nutritional properties of a fruit called sapote. For example, does it have any fat content? How many calories does it have? It is a South African tree that grows readily in Southern California and bears fruit during the winter.

I grew my tree from a seed, and it bears profusely. The fruit looks sort of like green apples, is soft when ripe but spoils quickly, has the texture of avocado, and tastes sweet like bananas.

--D.R.

La Mesa, Calif.

Dear D.R.: The sapote (sap-OH-tay), which comes in a number of different colors, is a flavorful tropical fruit that grows well in warm climates.

They are good sources of vitamin C, niacin, beta carotene (along with the other carotenes), and minerals such as iron, magnesium, potassium and calcium. A 3 1/2-ounce portion contains about 134 calories, almost 3 grams of dietary fiber and less than a gram of fat.

Enjoy!

*

Dear Dr. Blonz: While on vacation recently, I dined at a restaurant where I observed an employee who did not wash his hands after using the bathroom facilities. I was upset enough to tell the manager. After I described the employee, the manager said it was the dishwasher. She said she would talk to him.

When I returned to the table, I told my wife what happened. She thought that my reporting this incident put the employee’s job in jeopardy. She said that since his hands are probably in hot soapy water, any germs would be rendered harmless and thus not transmitted.

First, I do not care if this employee’s job is in jeopardy. And I do not agree that all germs would be killed in the “process.” What is your opinion, please?

P.S.: Regardless of your answer, I would never return to that restaurant.

--J.D.

San Diego

Dear J.D.: In my opinion, it is altogether appropriate for a restaurant patron to be angered if he was to see a food-service employee fail to wash his hands after using the bathroom facilities. Dishwashers also handle the dishes after they have been cleaned.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hand washing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection. Poor hand washing contributes to millions of cases of food poisoning every year.

This, by the way, includes washing by customers as well as by food-service employees.

To assure safety, a soap and hot-water washing of no less than 20 seconds’ duration should take place at the start of work. After washing, the hands should be dried with a single-use towel. There should then be rewashing after using the bathroom; handling dirty plates or garbage; working with raw foods; touching one’s hair, skin or other body part; and handling dirty equipment, utensils or other unclean objects.

These rules are established to encourage frequent hand washing during all phases of food preparation, but they also serve to alert food-service personnel to the various ways that germs end up on the plate.

For parents, teachers or restaurant owners interested in encouraging better hand hygiene, there is an interesting product named Glo-Germ. Originally developed at UCLA, this product is applied like a hand lotion and then rubbed off. When the hands are viewed under an ultraviolet light, the “germs” are visualized.

(They are not germs, of course--only safe, inert ingredients that become visible when viewed under ultraviolet light.)

The individuals are then told to wash their hands. When they check how well they have done, most are in for a surprise, as they see how many of the “germs” remain.

It is an eye-opening exercise that shows you how to do a better job of washing. It also leaves you with a real respect for the body’s immune system, our last line of defense charged with the job of neutralizing all those microorganisms that make their way in. For information on Glo-Germ, check out the company’s Web site (https://www.glogerm.com) or call (800) 842-6622.

* Ed Blonz is the author of the “Your Personal Nutritionist” book series (Signet, 1996). Send questions to: “On Nutrition,” Ed Blonz, c/o Newspaper Enterprise Assn., 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016 or e-mail to: ed@blonz.com. Personal replies cannot be provided.