<p>All you carrot washers: please tell me what you accomplish by rinsing off a carrot with water? At most it makes it wet. There’s no dirt on them, and if there were any bacteria, rinsing them with water accomplishes nothing. I only rinse fruits and vegetables grown in the garden to remove the dirt, or maybe salad that might have dirt on it. But those strawberries from the grocery store are only going to get wet with water.</p>
<p>Actually, that’s why I rinse baby carrots – I find they are often kind of dry. They have been peeled and start to loose moisture. It makes them feel fresher. I don’t think it gets rid of any germs. </p>
<p>For what it is worth, when vegetables are contaminated with e- coli it is much more likely to have been in the water that was used to grow them then to come from an external source.</p>
<p>I don’t wash the baby carrots in the bag. But I do wash greens and all fruit (except bananas and oranges). Potatoes usually have a lot of dirt and since I like eating the skins, I rinse them. As far as meat goes, I thoroughly cook chicken and ground beef to minimize risk. And I am careful with cross contamination re: knives, cutting boards and sink (big believer in old fashioned Comet cleanser) You can’t eliminate all risk so I try to balance convenience with prudence. I am far more grossed out imagining what goes on in the kitchens of some of the restaurants I eat at than what goes on in homes of friends.</p>
<p>I do wash them, though I agree that with something like apples, it’s more psychological. I’m not sure how much pesticides I’m actually going to be getting off running it under water. For the many vegetables that actually have dirt on them, of course, it’s different.</p>
<p>In terms of eggs, I have to say that my family used to ahve chickens, and we’d bring in eggs with clumps of chicken feces on them sometimes. Given that habit, we always washed all eggshells well (with soap). Industrially, I imagine that they have some process for cleaning shells, but who knows how well it works? Chickens are not clean?</p>
<p>What about cans? My grandmother always used to lecture me about scrubbing off can lids because they can sink into the liquid of the can when you open, therefore contaminating your soup or whatever. I can’t say i actually do it much, though.</p>
<p>
Do you rinse the potatoes after peeling? Whenever I peel potatoes, the mud gets on my hands and the potatoes. Germs aside, that would make for gritty mashed potatoes!</p>
<p>I don’t wash the carrots out of the bag. Granted my family prefers whole carrots. Those we do wash and peel. Just with water.
I wash most fruits and vegetables. Just with water so I don’t know if I am doing much. I don’t wash bananas or oranges. With potatoes I wash the outside with a brush if I am going to be eating the skin. Otherwise I rinse off the dirt and peel. I do rinse them again after peeling to get off any remaining dirt.
Don’t wash beef. We don’t eat pork or fish. If it is a whole chicken I rinse it out. Otherwise I just cook it unless it has blood on it.
I am extremely careful about cutting boards and knives. Also about keeping the countertop clean. I also don’t leave food sitting out on the counter. Also am good about washing my hands. I am careful to not touch anything after handling raw meat till I have washed my hands with soap. Including turning on the water with my elbow.
Cans- If they look dirty I will wash them.
I can’t recall the last time anyone at my house got sick from my cooking.</p>
<p>I wash my food, but my house is dirty enough for everyone to get enough bacteria to stay healthy. lol</p>
<p>I hardly wash anything. Certainly not carrots out of the bag, or pre-washed items. Nor eggs. </p>
<p>Rarely meat or fish, unless there is a lot of liquid in the pkg. I do wash fruit thoroughly that we will eat skin and all. </p>
<p>I am very careful about cross-contamination, not so much about putting things directly in the fridge, except if raw dairy/eggs involved. </p>
<p>That said, I use common sense. If something looks dirty (ie. potatoes, lettuce-particularly when not pre-packaged), I will rinse it. I can’t recall ever scrubbing anything with soap & water. </p>
<p>No one’s ever gotten sick either when I was growing up or in my adult life.</p>
<p>I have used a bit of dish soap on apples that feel like they have wax on them. I rinse well, of course, and don’t see any difference between that and using soap on my eating utensils. All are thoroughly rinsed.</p>
<p>I grew up watching my mother rinse meat and chickens, and I have always done it. I kind of always assumed it was a throwback to “koshering” the meat, where it was soaked and salted and rinsed in order to purge it of presumed blood that remained even after kosher slaughtering. We were not kosher, but of course this had most likely been passed down from the older generation that was kosher. Today, at most kosher butchers, and in packaged kosher raw meat and chicken you would find that the products have already been soaked and salted.</p>
<p>Fruit and produce was also rinsed in water. I still rinse bag lettuce for the most part even if it says it was washed. For the poster above who asked how to do this, use a colander. I never use soap on the food.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have found a salad spinner works best as it removes most of the water. In a pinch I will rinse it and then use paper towels to absorb the excess water.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Google C. diff. Really nasty stuff which is spread through fecal matter. Forms spores that are resistant to alcohol and dilute bleach, but can be washed off. Apples on the grocery store display were put there by human hands. What if those hands were not washed properly before touching the apples? Your healthy gut bacteria might be able to purge the few spores of C. diff that you could get by biting into an unwashed apple, but for a person on antibiotics or an immunocompromised person a few spores can turn into a nightmare. It always prudent to wash apples and other fruit even if you do not eat the skins.</p>
<p>BB: wash how? (to rid the produce of C. Diff) Rub under water? I read that adding vinegar to the water can help. I really have no idea.</p>
<p>I never in my life heard of washing meat and it seems like a pretty useless thing to do. I do wash all fruits and veggies.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner, if they are immune to alcohol and bleach but can be washed off, I’m assuming rinsing in cold water and rubbing with my hands doesn’t do the trick? (I’ve always heard that that doesn’t wash much off anyway, which is why I said it was psychological). How do you wash them? With soap? I’ve heard that vinegar works, but never actually used it…</p>
<p>I always rinse fruits & veggies with tap water. Sometimes, I rinse strawberries in a diluted dish soap or bleach solution. I always rinse whole chickens and other whole poultry as well before cooking, but not the other cuts of meat or fish. I have never been tempted to eat raw eggs in any form nor raw cookie dough. I believe there is a great deal of handling of produce before it reaches your home, which is what we’re trying to help wash off (as well as any visible dirt).</p>
<p>Washing involves reality in terms of bugs/chemicals expunged, versus some sort of mental satisfaction for having done the “right” thing. For me most of my cleansing actions probably serve the latter purpose. </p>
<p>If you’re at a public restroom and turn the faucet off with your bare hand and push the rest room door open or push the handle, isn’t it possible you just put your hand where a zillion people have deposited cooties, and you ended up worse than if you just walked out and used your behind to push the door open? I would feel really dirty if I just left, but picking up others’ bugs from these surfaces doesn’t feel that bad because the intent of the actions was to be clean, and I don’t try to get a paper towel to shield my hand after washing. </p>
<p>I think something similar applies to fruits and veggies - if a carrot or lettuce had been exposed to sewage or had absorbed chemicals, I question how much my holding them under the tap would help, but I do it just the same. Similar fetish with cans - whether it’s a cola or canned veggies, I wash the top before opening.</p>
<p>PS - I would hate to see how the inside surface of the pipes providing us with fresh water that I use to wash look like.</p>
<p>Dad<em>of</em>3, pipes do not scare me. Our local water district chlorinates the water that flows to our house, so that takes care of most bacteria, and the majority of inorganic and organic impurities in the water that we consume get absorbed by the ion-exchange resin and activated charcoal grains in the Brita filter. Ditto for public restrooms - paper towel or elbow work fine to shut off the water or open the door. Bacteria is not dangerous if it either absent (washed off) or dead (killed by alcohol, heat, bleach or some other means). It makes sense to wash tops of cans or bananas that have been handled by who knows what and how, but I agree - with lettuce etc. only the dirt on the surface will be removed by washing. If such produce absorbed E. coli - contaminated water from the ground (like in the infamous case of organic spinach), the only safe way is to heat-inactivate the pathogen by cooking it. Luckily for us, cases of toxic E. coli or community-spread C. diff are very rare. But why take any chances?</p>
<p>(PS - a former coworker works for a company that makes food testing assays. If you heard some of the horror stories about what is lurking in meat, “organic” and “homegrown” included, you would not eat it unless it is well-done :))</p>
<p>There was an article in the NY Times on Oct. 4, 2010, about washing fruits and vegetables. The recommendation was to use a mild friction rub and wash with hot or cold water on produce to reduce surface pesticides (significant reduction). Washing with mild vinegar solution reduces bacteria by 90% and viruses by 95%. In the related discussion, some recommend washing in baking soda solution or mild dishwater solution. Someone recommended using a clean paper towel to rub the produce.</p>
<p>Another reason I wash meat (aside from removal of blood, feces and surface germs) is to remove the remnants of the absorbive material from the packaging. That diaper stuff. I don’t know what it’s made of but I don’t really want to cook and eat a layer of the stuff. I also suppose (though don’t know) that there may be a layer of plastic on the food that could be rinsed off.</p>