How well do you wash your vegetables and fruit? With what?

[Anonymous]

People don't get ecoli from unwashed produce...they get ecoli from produce where farms have sprayed their crops with water contaminated from concentrated animal feeding operations. You can't wash ecoli off. If it is contaminated...you are sunk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be honest, these days we really try to buy organic. You can't wash off pesticides that have been absorbed into the fruit or veg.

So with organic, we just rinse and that's it.

Same here.

[Anonymous]

What's the deal with people talking about organic produce? They are subjected to pesticides, too. Just different types. And often to a lot more applications than conventional. Google Rotenone, pyrethin, and imidan/phosmet to start. If pesticides are what worry you, you need to wash organic produce as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's the deal with people talking about organic produce? They are subjected to pesticides, too. Just different types. And often to a lot more applications than conventional. Google Rotenone, pyrethin, and imidan/phosmet to start. If pesticides are what worry you, you need to wash organic produce as well.

Yes, those pesticides are different types; they are better types than traditional pesticides - biodegradable, better for the environment, less harmful to humans, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the deal with people talking about organic produce? They are subjected to pesticides, too. Just different types. And often to a lot more applications than conventional. Google Rotenone, pyrethin, and imidan/phosmet to start. If pesticides are what worry you, you need to wash organic produce as well.

Yes, those pesticides are different types; they are better types than traditional pesticides - biodegradable, better for the environment, less harmful to humans, etc.

Yes, but you still need to wash them off your produce. Organic shouldn't get a pass.

[Anonymous]

I do food safety work and have done a lot of research on the field-to-fork timeline. A lot of produce IS washed before it gets to you, but a lot is not very thoroughly washed. I use a basic vinegar/water in a spray bottle and scrub them (unless they are berries, then I spray and rinse them). Here are the reasons:

1. the FDA says that all fruits and vegetables, including those that are organically grown, should be thoroughly washed to remove soil, surface microbes, and some pesticides (http://www.fda.gov/food/resourcesforyou/consumers/ucm114299).

2. Tons of people are handling your food. From the person who picks it, packs it, to the person who unpacks it and puts it on the shelf. No one is wearing gloves and I just prefer to wash that off.

3. Luke LaBorde, associate professor in Penn State University's Department of Food Science says to scrub your food if it has a waxy or thick textured skin. Potatos and melon grooves mean your hands can't rub off all the dirt. Waxy-skinned citrus fruit and cucumbers may have pathogens sticking to the exterior.

Unlike what the PP said, E.Coli is often simply on the surface and can be washed off.

Laborde notes, "There have been several microbial outbreaks involving cantaloupes because they're grown near the ground and can pick up dirt." The dirt may contain microorganisms spread through poor irrigation techniques in the field. These pathogens tend to thrive on the grooved surface of a cantaloupe.

LaBorde stated: "When you cut open the cantaloupe," he says, "you can transfer bacteria to the fleshy part inside." And because a cantaloupe is not an acidic fruit — unlike, say, a tart apple — bacteria can grow more easily on the fleshy part.

Basically, it's not worth the risk to me for something that takes just a few seconds. I think plain water is absolutely fine. I like the vinegar wash because a This American Kitchen (Cooks Illustrated) did a test to see whether water alone or cut vinegar was better for removing bacteria from the surface of produce and the vinegar won.

Either way, you should certainly wash your produce.

[Anonymous]

I spent a good portion of my childhood on a working farm. I remember eating corn right of the stalk. And berries right from the vine. We hit apples trees to knock down apples and ate them right under the tree. All of this likely right after playing with whatever farm animal happened to be around.

My grandparents used pesticides. Organic was unheard of back then. Somehow I survived. And I never get sick.

I do wash produce when I get it home from the market mostly because I know how many people have touched it during it's journey from farm to store. But I don't make herculean efforts to clean it. I rinse it with some water and that's about it.

Maybe the reason so many people get sick from produce is because their weak immune systems just can't handle even the smallest amount of bacteria.

[Anonymous]

I rince with water and buy mostly organic.

[Anonymous]

I rinse with water. Grow my own organically and buy organic. In the summer, I rarely have to buy at all.

[Anonymous]

I wash with a vinegar and water spray or just water if it is not a fruit that has been handled a lot.

I see the way people fondle the apples and tomatoes in the grocery with their gross hands. Aint no way I'm eating it without washing it first!

[Anonymous]

Let's see, for me it depends on what the fruit / veg is. I still haven't mastered the art of washing lettuces, but I think that's because I lack a salad spinner.

I'm grossed out by the idea of people picking up individual apples, peaches, pears and then putting them back in the pile. We all do it. So for those, I literally wash them with the same antibactical soap I use to wash my hands (Dial foaming) But I'm weird like that.

For melons, I'm grossed out that they've been growing in the dirt- and potentially in animal feces. (see cantaloupe scare of 2010) I scrub those with soap and a clean sponge- making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies.

Berries I simply rinse.

I learned this obsessive behavior from my late grandfather, M.D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wash with a vinegar and water spray or just water if it is not a fruit that has been handled a lot.

I see the way people fondle the apples and tomatoes in the grocery with their gross hands. Aint no way I'm eating it without washing it first!

How many parts vinegar and water?

[Anonymous]

I tend to wash my non-organic produce, in an attempt to remove some of the pesticide residue. I don't usually wash organic stuff, since I believe it has less hazardous chemicals on it.

But we should all be eating more dirt:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27brod.html?_r=1