Your best tips for raw food safety post transplant.

I know! I miss raw micro greens too, though they are ok to eat if you blanch them! So you can still keep the young farmer in business. But yes, the luxury of just eating raw out of the container is a no no.
My dietitian at Mayo, in the pre-transplant classes was so funny. She’d say, “When in doubt think of me tapping on your hand as you’re about to reach for something”! LOL. Sometimes I probably need more of a slap because temptation is hard!!
Oh, and there’s no 5 second rule anymore. Drop something and still want to eat it? Nope, think of it as the John Handy joke about losing your keys in a volcano…they’re just gone. 😂

I spoke with my microgreens farmer and he said he grows all his greens in soil and well vented conditions like sprouts. He assures me that he is well versed on the sprout concerns, but microgreens do not have similar bacterial issues.

I’ve just started investigating, it does seem that bacteria growth is much less common with microgreens. So, I’ll continue to research before imbibing again!

I’m wondering about other raw vegetables at restaurants or potlucks in general. How do we know these things have been properly washed?

Thanks as always for the insights!

I’d be much less concerned with eating the micro greens from your local farmer. He’s seems pretty attuned to the bacterial issues. If you wanted to go the extra step to safety, you could do a soak in some vinegar water and spin dry. (Salad spinner)

What to avoid (or what I’ve been told to avoid) would be the sprouts or pre-washed lettuce and veggies in bags from commercial sources or pre-cut veggies and fruits from a grocery store. Especially chopped iceberg lettuce in bags. They seem to test high in bacteria. Also still on my no-no list are any deli meats unless heated to 160 degrees…which defeats the purpose of cold cuts and tastes awful! LOL And of course, avoiding buffets or raw foods where I don’t know the cleaning process.

We use packaged fresh spinach soaked in vinegar water first. Most of our spinach is sautéed or eaten in soup anyway. Leaf lettuce I generally wash each leaf after soaking the head in v-water.

No way will I eat at a potluck unless it’s food I make myself or really know the cook! It’s no biggie. I grew up going to church pot lucks with my mom gently touching my wrist and almost imperceptibly shaking her head if I was reaching for a spoon in a dish of unknown parentage. Her quiet action screamed, “Don't touch that!” Haha! As I got older, I appreciated her behind the scenes knowledge of the cooks!

Hi all,
Love this discussion...it's so helpful to a first year transplant like me! Question - do you ever eat soup out at a restaurant or cafeteria? If so, do you ask them to microwave it to make it steaming hot or is it okay as served? Also, I have my annual Mayo visit coming up. What kinds of things do you order at their cafeteria or small restaurants for lunch in between doc appointments? Thanks everyone!!!

Thank you @loribmt for all of the good info! I am on tacronlimis and Cellcept so I will look for cooked foods too! I like your hot chicken sandwich idea. I am headed to Jacksonville Mayo where my transplant took place. It's such an unbelievably wonderful hospital! I am a little concerned about the covid surge in Jacksonville since I will be driving four hours and staying at a hotel (with no antibodies). My plan is to just continue to be SUPER careful and stay in my room between doc appointments. By the way,...a different topic...did you experience any hair loss with Tacronlimis? I am definitely shedding!! Just curious if you heard any transplant or Tacronlimis patients' remedies for hair loss?

Thank you @loribmt for all of the good info! I am on tacronlimis and Cellcept so I will look for cooked foods too! I like your hot chicken sandwich idea. I am headed to Jacksonville Mayo where my transplant took place. It's such an unbelievably wonderful hospital! I am a little concerned about the covid surge in Jacksonville since I will be driving four hours and staying at a hotel (with no antibodies). My plan is to just continue to be SUPER careful and stay in my room between doc appointments. By the way,...a different topic...did you experience any hair loss with Tacronlimis? I am definitely shedding!! Just curious if you heard any transplant or Tacronlimis patients' remedies for hair loss?

We’re worried about going to Florida too! We generally spend winters there and missed last year because of Covid. We were prepared to be heading back in October. But now, with the surge again and the ‘powers that be’ not encouraging compliance, we’re really leery about heading down.

For your quick visit to Mayo though, you should be fine just following your normal stringent precautions for Covid. When we’re at any hotel we take along a container of Clorox or Lysol wipes. Both my husband and I know the routine. We start with each room and go around wiping doorknobs, doors where we’ll touch, horizontal surfaces of counters, tables, light switches, water faucets, tv remotes…and give the toilets a wipe down too. Since my transplant we even take Lysol spray to nuke around the toilet and floor, shower curtain. Yup, sounds severe but it has kept us safe. Oh, and do NOT drink out of the glasses in the bathrooms unless it’s the plastic cups sealed in a baggie. Take some Dixie cups along… Only takes a few minutes and then you’re not left wondering about safety. The clinic will require masks and have sanitizer everywhere! They’re so cautious you’ll be fine there.

Not sure I had hair loss from Tacro. I lost my hair 3 times from Chemo. Took a while after the 4th round to have it make a reappearance. I’m on such a low dose of tacro that I don’t think it’s having any impact on my hair.
I do know that any surgery, illness, anesthesia that could disrupt the growth cycle of hair will take time to regenerate. You might just be going through that phase of loss with no regrowth yet.
We have other members such as @ladydidehart, @gaylea1, @jolinda who have had success with Biotin. Their discussion is here in transplant an anti rejection med discussion. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/308556/

Thank you @loribmt for all of the good info! I am on tacronlimis and Cellcept so I will look for cooked foods too! I like your hot chicken sandwich idea. I am headed to Jacksonville Mayo where my transplant took place. It's such an unbelievably wonderful hospital! I am a little concerned about the covid surge in Jacksonville since I will be driving four hours and staying at a hotel (with no antibodies). My plan is to just continue to be SUPER careful and stay in my room between doc appointments. By the way,...a different topic...did you experience any hair loss with Tacronlimis? I am definitely shedding!! Just curious if you heard any transplant or Tacronlimis patients' remedies for hair loss?

I’d be much less concerned with eating the micro greens from your local farmer. He’s seems pretty attuned to the bacterial issues. If you wanted to go the extra step to safety, you could do a soak in some vinegar water and spin dry. (Salad spinner)

What to avoid (or what I’ve been told to avoid) would be the sprouts or pre-washed lettuce and veggies in bags from commercial sources or pre-cut veggies and fruits from a grocery store. Especially chopped iceberg lettuce in bags. They seem to test high in bacteria. Also still on my no-no list are any deli meats unless heated to 160 degrees…which defeats the purpose of cold cuts and tastes awful! LOL And of course, avoiding buffets or raw foods where I don’t know the cleaning process.

We use packaged fresh spinach soaked in vinegar water first. Most of our spinach is sautéed or eaten in soup anyway. Leaf lettuce I generally wash each leaf after soaking the head in v-water.

No way will I eat at a potluck unless it’s food I make myself or really know the cook! It’s no biggie. I grew up going to church pot lucks with my mom gently touching my wrist and almost imperceptibly shaking her head if I was reaching for a spoon in a dish of unknown parentage. Her quiet action screamed, “Don't touch that!” Haha! As I got older, I appreciated her behind the scenes knowledge of the cooks!