Have you ever… washed your onions?

[NC6745]

I was today years old when I caught a glimpse of the tag on a 3 pack of onions that said ‘wash before use’. This has never ever occurred to me in my entire lifetime and honestly, what on earth! You peel ‘em, you chop ‘em! Am I the only one? 😂

This is why I buy organic, far less pesticide residue because there's no way I'm going to start washing fruit and veg that isn't visibly dirty.

I believe the advice to remove pesticides from non organic fruit and veg is to soak them for 15 minutes in a bowl of water with a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda in it....... although I can't imagine many people do that.

In terms of country of origin I will always try and buy from the UK......the same with butter and cheese. You can look for the country code in the oval shape on any dairy packaging and GB will be helping support British farmers. They've got it hard enough as it is, I'm happy to buy British milk rather than a blend of EU products.

with organic you trade potentially harmful chemicals for potentially harmful fecal bacteria from manure based fertiliser.

I do this^ as well.
I wash all my fruits and vegs. They come into contact with all sorts of things before coming to my kitchen so yes I wash them.

I rinse all veg and fruit as I can’t afford to buy organic. Veg and fruit are sprayed with chemicals which can be carcinogenic. That’s why eg strawberries can travel all the way from Spain or even Egypt to our shops and still look fresh days later in the fridge.

I was a bit surprised when there was an instruction on this year's box of Christmas crackers (not the biscuit variety - the pulling variety) to wash before use!! We eventually decided it must relate to the contents of the crackers, but even that was a bit strange for many of the items!

My DH bought me a bunch of daffs last week, and they have an instruction of Do Not Eat on the label...... (yes, I know the bulbs are poisonous, but these were in bloom, and were cut).

But, no - have never washed onions, or most other fruit and veg. Only if muddy.

Mushrooms are full of all sorts of yuk. I rinse them and pat with kitchen towel

Hahahahahaha
I guess everything needs to be spelt out these days. People are either getting less intelligent or chancers suing for everything

You were spot on!

Next they'll be telling us that actually whilst chopping you need to stand on one leg and recite the 7x table 😂

I've always wondered if my quick wash in cold water was actually doing much, but have never seen any other advice. What should I do?

I tend to give them a quick rinse after chopping the end off and peeling, as I tend to get tiny bits of the skin stuck to it, not for sanitary reasons though.

This is a good point. I don't intend ever washing them but it might be good practise to wash hands after peeling the outer layer.

I thought a quick rinse didn’t actually remove pesticides & chemicals?

Mushrooms should be wiped as they are porous.

I run the tap when chopping onions, it definitely reduces onion eyes

all parts of a daffodil are inedible/poisonous.
and they look very similar to asian green onions.
I'm glad that there are labelled to make clear that they are not food

You can use something like Milton's, or you can buy a proper vegetable wash.

when covid was at its peak I did use Milton's, washed the veg first then used it to wipe down all the other containers etc.

but outside of that I don't bother. I only wash veg if there's obvious mud etc & that's to remove the mud, I'm not under any illusion it makes it free from other people having handled it.

Guys you do not need to bleach vegetables.

Thanks, but apart from obviously washing fruit and veg if it's dirty, I'm washing bought fruit and veg to try to remove fungicides and insecticides. I wonder if Milton does that? Probably better than just plain water.

Use bicarbonate of soda....it makes the water slightly alkaline and is cheaper than Milton.

You're the only person to have mentioned bleach.

i don't know, but as @GameOfJones has said Bicarbonate of soda removes a lot of them (something like 66- 99% of pesticides) & because it's slightly abrasive, helps with general cleaning

Arm & Hammer recommends 1 teaspoon per 2 cups of cold water, and swishing your produce in the solution before allowing the produce to soak for 12–15 minutes

however

The USDA consistently studies the levels of pesticide residues on produce in its Pesticide Data Program, but analysis of the data shows that even though pesticides are often detected, the levels are below what would be harmful to consumers. One way of avoiding higher pesticide exposure is to buy organic or locally from farmers markets'

'As an alkaline compound, baking soda will start to break down more delicate fruit and vegetable skins and surfaces after the recommended 12–15 minutes, and can even soften beans and other pulses under longer exposure. This means “sturdy items with smooth skin will hold up the best (apples, pears, some melons and squash, etc.),” says House. Beyond that, studies have shown that while washing produce in a baking soda solution can reduce pesticide residues by 66.7–98.9%, washing in tap water alone can reduce by 26.7–62.9%. Knowing that the levels of pesticide residues are almost negligible anyway, the advantage added by baking soda becomes minuscule'

i think quickly rinsing & washing is probably where you can make the most difference without spoiling your F&V & without too much effort.

plus if you buy British produce it shouldn't have wax coating, so that's one less thing.

you might find this an interesting read

www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-clean-produce-fruit-and-vegetable-wash-article

I ALWAYS wash before using onions.

Not always a full shower and hair wash but certainly hands and face.

Surely everyone does?

Isn't that what Wash Before Use means??

And apparently there's lots of Forever Chemicals (insecticides, pesticides and herbicides in manure as well! We can't avoid them tbh, but we can wash them off and not eat more than can be helped. There are links with infertility, bowel problems and cancer etc etc. Our garden is organic but we don't use manure, we make our own compost.

I peel them then rinse them and then cut with a wet knife. It stops them stinging my eyes and in the past before I learned about it Is would be literally struggling to see. Uurgh. Its not an old wives tale it really works.
In not sure thats why they put the label on the packet though.

The post before mine literally said to use MILTONS.

Which is a bleach.

Miltons isnt a bleach.
but it is meant to be good for washing vegetables