Fresh fruits and veg in Peru?

i'm an american who eats a lot of fresh produce back home. what do i need to know about eating fresh produce in peru? stay away? other?
peace

Avocados (called 'palta' in Peru), pineapples and mangos are all excellent. There are also fruits you won't have seen before, like chirimoya and tuna (no, it's not a fish!). Peru is the home of the potato and there are many different varieties. Corn is also a staple, and you get it on the cob (the kernels are larger and less sweet than we are used to), or the kernels roasted, which tastes like popcorn, or as popcorn, or even made into tamales (corn meal dough steamed in corn husks). The amazing purple cobs are made into chicha morada, a common soft drink.

As far as health is concerned, only you can decide how careful you are going to be. On the cautious side you would only eat fresh produce that was either well-cooked and steaming hot, or you could peel yourself or wash in purified water. However the juices and salads are good and I think most people just eat them, as long as the place looks clean.

LL

All of the most delicious fruits in Peru are of the kinds that have to be peeled so they are safe to eat.
You dont need to wash fruit in "purified water". The way to eat them:

- wash them from outside with normal tap water
- dry them with a clean towel
- wash your hands with soap

This removes any dirt that is possible outside the fruit or on your hands. Now peel the fruit, and the inside will not get contaminated and you can eat it safely. It is a very simple method really.

Most people, when they get sick, get sick from other things, like chicken served with mayonnaise (the bacteria are in the mayonnaise). Some degree of contact with local bacteria is unavoidable, they are in the air, on your hands etc all the time. Most people do get sick but you can get over it with minimum discomfort if you just stop eating for a day or two (starve the buggers and let your stomach acid kill them off!). It is a natural process because the (harmless/beneficial) bacteria in your intestines that help digestion, have to be replaced by the local varieties that differ on each continent. So just think of it as an adaptation process, like getting used to the altitude.

Fo e lettuce and all sorts of green leaves and fruits like strawberries is better to have at hand one of those solutions u mix with water to wash and let it for a while and the stir it.

no worries... good info above... but keep in mind much of the produce you buy at home comes from Peru and similar developing countries.

You are going to be a very happy person. The information posted by the prior posters is all correct. You will find that the produce in Peru will be more flavorfull than you are used to since it is virtually always field or tree ripened and sold almost immediately after harvest. If you can buy from the neighborhood markets instead of the supermarkets, you will find the prices lower and a much better variety. Also don't worry about produce that is not cosmetically up to supermarket standards back home. Odd shaped items, minor bumps and bruises that don't cut the skin of the produce and slightly off colors are nothing to worry about. Sometimes the ugliest varieties are the best tasting or the most unique. Avoid things that have had the skin cut (hard to clean) and things that smell off. Remember that in many cases the smell will naturally be stronger since the produce is so fresh and has not been stored or treated.

Please clarify - what about eating salads (vegetable salads and fruit salads) in restaurants?

Good advice above. Indeed the fruits seem more tasty in Peru than back home. I often bought an avocado, a lime and I had my portion of salt with me... I cut the avocado in half, removed the pit, sprinkled lime inside, and spooned it out. YUMMM. Mangos, bananas etc are easy and cheap to buy and safe since you need to peel them yourself.

#6 I avoid cold salads sice they have been touched by someones hands and you can't be sure about their hygene standards; and they may have been washed with tap water (drops still in the salad). I forgot about this once in Bolivia and 3 out of our group of 5 got diarrhoea.

Be careful about eating fresh fruits at breakfast when it's already been sliced / opened by the staff.

I do drink the fruit juices and sugar cane juices which is risky but I survived. They are so tasty....

As said above, in restaurants make sure the vegetables are steaming hot so that all bacteria have died. Typical Peruvian dishes include more meat than vegetables. Potatoes are their 'vegetables'; you will often find rice as well as potatoes on your plate. (They have hundreds of types of potatoes and are very proud of them.) The soup dishes often have the most vegetables inside (carrot, coleslaw, potatoes) compared to the solid dishes but I didn't always like the flavour of Peruvian soups... especially if a lot of meaty / fatty bones were floating in it. The solid dishes are often:
rice
+ chicken wing / drum stick / beef / hamburger
+ potatoes
+ two slices of tomato that might give you diarrhoea
hardly any spices

But you can also find lots of foreign-run restaurants if you need your daily amount of veggies. Chinese restaurants (chifa) always have broccoli dishes; there are also various German and American etc. vegetarian restaurants.
For breakfast and lunch I often self-catered my own salad out of fruits and nuts from the market, or yogurt and fruits / muesli from a supermarket / corner shop, or eating fried cassave off a street vendor.

cecilia...a wealth of knowledge as always. thanks!
so what's cassave?
peace

thanks to everyone, btw. this is GREAT information. much more heartening than the currency exchange/ fake soles situation! haha...
peace

Besides fruits and basic veggies, Perú has a wonderful variety of ajíes (chilis, if your Spanish is more northern) that are second only to Mexican in flavors and force. Also, yeah, go ahead and peel your mangos - but, save the skins and rub the insides on yours, the best skin´softener you'll find anywhere. And, after your skin dries you will be amazed to find that no - that´s right, zero - sticky residue remains. Enjoy Peruvian food, the southern continent's most sapid.

akglider, I'm amazed to read about your mango skin treatment and how it leaves no sticky residue. But doesn't it attract mosquitos and other insects like magnets?