TO BE HEALTHY, FOLLOW YOUR NOSE TO FRUIT

Is the produce drawer of your refrigerator full of more chemicals than a high school chemistry lab?

Some say yes, but Dan Corsaro of Indianapolis Fruit Co. defends his product and says no.

"As a country, the United States has the safest food supply of any country in the world," says Corsaro, the executive vice president of sales and marketing of Indianapolis Fruit distributors.

"I've been eating produce all my life. They always tell you to rinse the products off before you eat. I've never done that."

Nevertheless, pesticides have been found occasionally in produce sold in the United States. Corsaro isn't worried.

"I don't think any of those pesticides or residues that were found had any tolerance levels that would, you know, injure anybody physically," says Corsaro.

He cites the scare several years ago when the pesticide Alar was found on apples. "You had to eat about 1,000 apples a day for a year to have some type of meaningful effect on you," he explains. "A human being could not consume enough product . . . when they are sitting down to a snack or have it with their meals."

Safe food

Supporting Corsaro's belief, the Food and Drug Administration in 1992 released the results of testing 19,000 fruits and vegetables and found that 99 percent of domestic produce and 96 percent of imported produce was within safety standards.

"I don't know of anybody that ever died of eating fruits and vegetables," states Corsaro. "I think if you look hard enough at any product, somebody is going to come up with something that is going to be wrong.

"I'm sure if they look at potato chips or some of these other foods and they really look at them close, they are going to find a lot more harmful effects to them," he continues. "I would encourage you to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and in no way, shape, or form is it dangerous to you."

Corsaro not only believes fruit is safe, but also firmly believes if it isn't in your diet at a young age, it's hard to add.

"Basically, we are all concerned about how the future generation is going to be," says Corsaro, at his company at 4501 Massachusetts Avenue.

"From all the research we've done, we've found out that you continue to eat the way you start to eat. So basically all of our efforts are geared to children," he continues.

Corsaro worries that children are not getting a good start.

"If you look at all the statistics, 60 percent of our children are overweight, and a lot of that has to do with their daily intake of proteins and nutrients," says Corsaro.

"Everybody now really wants to go to McDonald's and get a greasy burger, so we are hoping that we can get people to start snacking a lot more on fresh fruits and vegetables and not eating a candy bar or potato chips."

Getting kids to eat fruit

The challenge for Corsaro is to persuade kids that eating fruit is a must.

"What I've done with my kids is just put it on a plate and kind of explain to them what it is. Really if it smells good, they will taste it and eat it."

Corsaro also suggests that if that doesn't work, give kids a candied apple, or strawberries with chocolate dip, but adds, "Our product is very tasty just eaten raw."

Whatever methods parents use to finally persuade their children to eat fruit, Corsaro stresses the importance that the task is accomplished.

"You need a good healthy diet, one of nutritional balance," he emphasizes. "Because as I stated earlier, you are what you eat."

According to Corsaro, kids have some control over what they eat because they influence what their parents purchase.

"Children have a lot to do with buying decisions when they go to stores. I'm sure you have gone with your mom and dad to the stores, and if you see something, you are going to bug Mom and Dad - `Hey, look, let's try this, let's get that.' "

EDITED BY: Joe Huser, 16