Fresh summer produce brings good flavors, and sometimes unwanted surprises.

Germs of all sorts can cling to vegetables and fruits. Yet protecting yourself from harm is relatively easy, experts say.

“The main thing you’ve got to do is always wash fruits and vegetables,” said Lowe Wilkins, environmental program manager for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department.

Every year, about 76 million people get sick from food poisoning, officially called “foodborne illness.” Most people recover in a few days, but more than 325,000 end up in the hospital each year. About 5,000 die, according to government statistics.

Symptoms are often confused with the flu. There may be more cases of food poisoning than we know, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pregnant women, young children, the elderly and the sick need to be especially careful, the government reports.

One key way to protect yourself is to get to know your food supply.

“It would help if we knew where our food was grown,” said Hamilton County extension agent June Puett. “And if you can buy local, you can usually know who grew the food, who picked it, and you can make sure it’s fresh as possible.”

Another tip is to keep up with news of food recalls, or regularly checking unsafe food recalls through www.foodsafety.gov.

This month, for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised citizens to destroy any raw jalapeño and serrano peppers grown, harvested or packed in Mexico. The peppers may contain a bacterial disease called Salmonella Saintpaul.

More than 1,300 people in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Canada — including 40 people in Georgia, 10 people Tennessee and 3 people in Alabama — have contracted the disease since April.

Once you’ve identified safe food, safely grown, harvested and packed, warding off foodborne diseases takes only a few simple steps, according to Hamilton County Extension:

1. Wash your hands with soap and running water. Scrub as long as it takes to sing the “A, B, C song.”

2. Wash and sanitize all countertops, cutting boards and utensils and vegetable brushes with a mix of one teaspoon of chlorine bleach in one quart of water.

3. Wash the sink with hot, soapy water and then rinse it. Sanitize it by pouring a mixture of one teaspoon of chlorine bleach in one quart of water into the sink. Wipe sink surfaces and drain.

4. Rinse fruits and vegetables under clean, running water in a clean sink. Scrub firm vegetables and fruits with a sanitized brush. Remove outer leaves of lettuce and cabbage before washing. Wash all bagged produce, even if the bag says “pre-washed.”

5. Rinse berries, parsley and greens in a clean colander and spray them with a kitchen sink sprayer, shaking gently.

Though some stores and television commercials market expensive vegetable washes, neither the Health Department nor the Extension Service recommend them.

“All you need to do is wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly before you eat them, with water, just cool water,” Ms. Puett said.

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