Is raw produce worth it given washing hassles?

[Anonymous]

I just rinse things quickly unless I’m making food for someone sick, very old or pregnant.

[Anonymous]

If the water source is safe, it’s not too difficult and most fruits / veggies can be soaked and rinsed in water. Vinegar doesn’t add much to this process. It’s mostly waste of vinegar.

The challenge is if you’re in a location where the tap water itself is not safe.

[Anonymous]

….what??

— rinses produce with potable drinking water, not dead yet

[Anonymous]

It was a real article in the paper. OP here. I never used vinegar or salt or anything. Daunting to think of all that taking each leaf apart...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just give everyone a quick rinse. What’s the big deal? I sometimes buy the pre washed arugula or baby kale…there seems to be less e. Coli risk is you are buying a bag of one item, not the mixed salads/vegetables/sprig mix, and no spinach.

Quick rinser here. I do buy the big things of spinach. Those don't get a rinse usually.
I'm more careful for the kids but they prefer cooked stuff anyway.
I still nuke in plastic for me sometimes but never for them.

[Anonymous]

This is absurd. I give everything a quick rinse in water. Occasionally I "scrub" a little with my hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/how-to-clean-produce/

Yikes. How much time and running water is this all taking? Plus the vinegar, cleanup...
Those prewashed bagged salads had e coli once iirc.
I just eat cooked vegetables.
Salads used to be nice but taking the wilted lettuce to be composted and their use as blue cheese dressing carrier for DH, eh.

DO YOU DO ALL THIS?

Ok wait-don’t you clean produce before you cook it?? How is eating it raw more work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I use either white vinegar or salt, which also works. I rinse until water is clear, which is several rinses. I get a lot of our produce from a local organic farm, but it’s often right from the field and dirty.

Organic farms eliminate risks of over exaggerated risks, like uptake of “cHEmiCaLs!!!” from the ground, but do nothing to reduce the risk of things like e.coli, salmonella, and listeria. In fact, since a lot of these places are run by hippies with questionable hygiene practices, the risk is probably higher.

And, before you jump all over me, yes some fertilizers absorb into certain produce. But not nearly to the degree the hysteria would indicate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a real article in the paper. OP here. I never used vinegar or salt or anything. Daunting to think of all that taking each leaf apart...

Microbiologist here again. Real articles in real papers are not always (or often) based on accurate scientific data. Think of it as a lifestyle piece that speaks more to the socio-economic and cultural bubble the author is living in than to any real-world population needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I rarely ever rinse my produce. Not dead yet.

I had no idea I was supposed to rinse lettuce. I just remove the outer leaves and cut up the inner ones.

That works for iceberg but for romaine or leaf lettuce? You're eating bugs and dirt, especially if you buy organic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I rarely ever rinse my produce. Not dead yet.

Same. Unless there are visible insects, or large amounts of dirt, I just eat it. The rest of the things you interact with each day are not sterile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I rarely ever rinse my produce. Not dead yet.

I had no idea I was supposed to rinse lettuce. I just remove the outer leaves and cut up the inner ones.

That works for iceberg but for romaine or leaf lettuce? You're eating bugs and dirt, especially if you buy organic.

What's wrong with eating some bugs and dirt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"baby lettuce" is one of the easiest and cheapest things to grow. They don't even need a grow light in summer; just put them by a window.

If you're this concerned about washing produce, maybe try growing some of your own?

This is silly. You aren't growing a year's supply of lettuce without major effort.

Save the empty plastic boxes from your salad, fill them with a single layer of pea gravel for drainage and then seed starting soil. Start one a week, or howevermany days you plan to eat salad (which is a nonsense rabbit food, usually for people who are dieting and want bulk without calories, and shouldn't be your primary form of sustenance).

It takes about 4-6 weeks depending on the season to get the rotation started, but it costs very little, it's easy af to rotate the bins, and there's plenty of fresh leaves when you want them. You need to remember to water 1-3x a week, which takes about 10 minutes.

Maybe if you ate more calories you'd have more energy (and more brain power)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:….what??

— rinses produce with potable drinking water, not dead yet

This, yeah. And I’m not above snacking/letting my kids snack on fruits/veggies on the way home before they’ve been washed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You just need to go over the entire surface while applying a little pressure with your fingers when rinsing fruits and veggies with water. For soft produce (raspberries, lettuce, etc), you apply the pressure you can without squashing them. A lot of people just submerge their heads of lettuce in a big bowl of water - it lifts most bacteria off the leaves. No special equipment and chemicals necessary.

If you’re pregnant or severely immunocompromised, then stronger measures might be necessary, and you don’t want to eat raw foods in a restaurant.

- microbiologist.

My parents are elderly and my dad has cancer. Am I better off giving them non organic berries rather than organic?