I wonder if I really need to rinse off my berries and grapes now that spring fruit is hitting the shelves. What do the shippers/producers do prior to sale? Does a quick rinse do anything? I don’t see warning signs, so maybe it’s an urban myth that they need rinsing?
You’re supposed to try to wash them pretty thoroughly to make sure you get any sort of pesticides out. Maybe I was taught that like just as a way to make me wash fruits, but it makes reasonable sense so I keep doing it
If I’m eating the skin a wash it. Even if it’s been washed you don’t know who’s been poking at it at the store. If you pour almost boiling water over berries they last longer.
It just seems like that would be a liability for the producers. So if I were them I would probably rinse it. With all the lawsuits today it just seems to make sense.
Even though I’m not eating the skin, I also wash oranges and melons before cutting them. I figure that there may be some bad stuff on them that will wind up either on my hands or inside the melon once I cut into it. I must confess I don’t like to wash raspberries since I can never get them dry afterwards, but I know I should.
It is a good idea to rinse the fruit, whether it is imported or locally grown. Besides residues of insecticides, you don’t know how the fruit has been transported, where it has been stored, and it is wise to give the fruit a good washing. Some people use a mild solution of hydrogen peroxide diluted with water (talking anticeptic grade, not bleach grade)to wash the fruit, it supposedly removes more of whatever is on the fruit. It is especially important with berries to give them a good washing, a lot of pesticides are used in growing them.
@VeryHappy I, too, hate wet berries. That’s actually what caused me to ask the question in the first place. Also, I was my oranges b/c I usually slice them, and the kids of course like to shove the rinds in their mouths.
Absolutely. I can’t imagine eating fruit without washing it first.
Washing, as in rinsing? I’ve tried that with my car, and it doesn’t do a whole lot. So, I’m assuming people who ‘wash’ their fruit use some sort of cleansing agent?
For berries, I just rinse them under cool water. How are you going to wash a raspberry without it falling apart on you?
If I’m in a hurry, I rinse the apple or satsuma I’m eating. If I’m at home, I wash it. Every single time. I wasn’t aware not washing is even a thing, since all sorts of people touch it in the stores.
Re: #9: Not sure. But if rinsing isn’t good enough, then why do it? Do we rinse b/c we think it’s ‘better than nothing’?
Maybe it’s not a thing, not washing. I can see doing it for my kids. But not myself. I’ve gotten lazy (you know you’re old when…)
^^Because it can’t hurt.
I was mine. if it’s a large fruit like a pear or apple, I put a drop of dish soap in one hand and spread it with water on both hands then rub down the fruit under running water until the soap is gone then dry it with a cloth. if it’s berries I use a berry bowl (strainer type thing) and as I run water over the berries I hold the nozzle of the dish soap under the running water as I swirl the bowl underneath for a few seconds, enough to get some suds visible then stop and continue the rinsing until the suds are gone. when i do my baby carrot every morning I also toss the carrots with the free hands to give them some extra agitation and rubbing. the berries I leave wet but the carrots I dry.
You do know baby carrots aren’t really baby carrots, right? I have more concern for those “baby” carrots than cleaning my fruit and veggies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/13/no-one-understands-baby-carrots/
Washing your fruit is like putting on your socks in the morning? Always wash your fruit, you can never trust how things get to you. A bag of grapes has its own story to tell, its had its own travel experiences. Think of how many germs you can collect from leaving your house and touching two door handles. Nobody really thinks of it that way, but it doesnt hurt to try.
I agree with New Poster @construct.
Apparently I’m the only one in the country who still eats “adult” carrots. I love them. And my dog loves me to give him the stem ends.
I remember driving through the central valley in CA on our way to swim meets when I was kid, and seeing all the fields of beautiful fruits and veggies, and the lovely portable toilets with no place for the workers to wash their hands.
Wash your fruit.
@VeryHappy, that makes two of us who eat whole carrots. They taste sweeter than the machine-lathed, much fiddled with “baby” carrots.
goodness, yes. Clear running tepid water. Listeria is only one of the many things potentially stuck to the outside of the factory-farm produce shipped to you from Guatemala, Mexico or Peru – refrigeration will not kill listeria.
Buy local. Avoid pre-packaged. Grow your own (raspberries, especially!)