How to Overcome MySQL Error When Dealing with Apostrophes in Data Insertion?

<code class="php">function insert($database, $table, $data_array) {
    // Establish MySQL connection and select database
    $mysql_connect = connect_to_database();
    mysql_select_db($database, $mysql_connect);

    // Prepare column and data values for SQL command
    foreach ($data_array as $key => $value) {
        $tmp_col[] = $key;
        $tmp_dat[] = "'" . mysql_real_escape_string($value) . "'"; // Escape against SQL injections
    }
    $columns = join(',', $tmp_col);
    $data = join(',', $tmp_dat);

    // Construct and execute SQL command
    $sql = 'INSERT INTO ' . $table . '(' . $columns . ')VALUES(' . $data . ')';
    $result = mysql_query($sql, $mysql_connect);

    // Handle SQL errors or return result
    if (!$result) {
        echo 'MySQL Update Error: ' . mysql_error($mysql_connect);
        $result = '';
    } else {
        return $result;
    }
}</code>