Storing This Food
Refrigerate fresh berries. Do not wash or handle before storing. Washing increases the pos-
sibility of mold; handling damages cells, releasing enzymes that inactivate vitamins and
make the berries less nutritious.
Preparing This Food
Rinse the berries under cool running water, then drain and pick over carefully to remove
all debris.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
Heat dissolves the pectins in berry cells, making the berries softer. It also destroys some of
the vitamin C.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
Freezing. When you thaw frozen berries, some liquid leaks out, which means there is less
water and more berry flesh per serving. However, freezing destroys some vitamins. A cup of
frozen raspberries has twice the fiber, but less folate and vitamin C, than fresh berries.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits
Antiscorbutics. Foods high in vitamin C cure or prevent the vitamin C deficiency disease
scurvy, characterized by bleeding gums and slow healing of wounds.
Adverse Effects Associated with This Food
Allergic reaction. Many people are sensitive to berries including raspberries. In fact, accord-
ing to the Merck Manual, berries are one of the 12 foods most likely to trigger classic food
allergy symptoms: hives, swelling of the lips and eyes, and upset stomach. The others
are chocolate, corn, eggs, fish, legumes (peas, lima beans, peanuts, soybeans), milk, nuts,
peaches, pork, shellfish, and wheat (see wheat cereals).
Food-borne illness. Small fruits such as berries appear to be a growing source of contamina-
tion by disease-causing organisms such as E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella. Common meth-
ods of decontamination such as vigorously washing the fruit are impractical with berries
because they damage the fruit. In 2007, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania
Raspberries