To have fed her DC unwashed strawberries?

[brilliantdances]

Neighbour will probably see this. Not sure I care. Perhaps she will see how silly she is!

She was desperate for someone to have her DD and I said I would, no worries, all fine.

Her DD shared a box of strawberries with DS today and long story short, she's picked her DC and her DC has told her this.

I have received a text saying ''Hi, thanks again for having Kate. Please can I ask though, next time wash the strawberries before giving them to her? They are dangerous if not washed properly and she could become so unwell. Would you really want that?''

I haven't replied and won't be. AIBU to have not washed them?! Would if I was at home but it was actually just a quick snack shared out

Tbf I see where she's coming from. I do wash all fruit and veg before consuming. Simply because I believe they're covered in chemicals and preservatives.
But that's just me.

Bizarre and even if you were a person who always washed strawberries, it’s a leap to reprimand others!

[quote Willyoujustbequiet]@Taliskerskye

Just rinse them under running water. Its not difficult and could prevent serious illness so its a no brainer really.

Honestly the ignorance on this thread is staggering. I bet half the replies mocking washing them wouldnt dream of eating raw chicken etc.. there's literally no difference - ecoli kills [/quote]
Exactly! I wouldn't dream of eating raw chicken unless it had been rinsed under running water first

@saraclara

Yep. "Don't worry. It won't happen again. Next time you need a favour I'm sure you can find someone else" ...is what is want to reply with. But silence is better.

Presumably I only wash strawberries if someone is watching. My family have survived many many punnets of unwashed strawberries, and those popped into their mouths at 'pick your own's

Absolutely agree with this. Even if she would have preferred it, her tone was rude and condescending. I’d simply reply- “no problem, I’ll certainly not trouble myself to help you out in the future, thereby avoiding any risk of a recurrence of this problem”.

People wash their strawberries? 😂 My DD grabs the fruit from the bags before we've even left the shop.

@Maryann1975

I’m Still waiting for the strawberry washers to tell me how to properly wash a strawberry. Considering hands need to be washed for 20 seconds with soap and water to be properly clean, how is rinsing under cold tap water doing anything other than giving you another a job to do?

You put them in a sink of water and vinegar. This makes stuff last longer in the fridge too.

I don’t wash any fruit 😬 didn’t know it was a thing. My dd eats carrots straight out the bag (not washed or peeled) she’s survived.

However tempting, absolute silence is best.

But I wouldn't dream of obliging someone so rude again.

Bet she rinses her mince too

Awful aggressive text message. You can't expect other parents to do things exactly the way you do them - particularly if they've done you a favour.

At an absolute push it could have been raised nicely but she chose to send something accusatory. She wants to make you feel bad!

Hopefully somebody at home will hear her moaning and tell her she's been a knob.

I am so astonished that so many people eat unwashed fruit still. Every day is a school day on mumsnet

I do wash fruit but tbh I wouldn't care if my kid ate unwashed fruit if someone else had taken my kid out for the day - I'd be too busy being bloody grateful!

if someone sent me a text like that I'd be wtf? but just assume the mum had some OCD issues around germs and so on. And I wouldn't have the kid again, unless my DC were especially attached to them. The passive-aggressive message is not on but what can you do!

As lots of people have pointed out her tone is awful, but also - which no one seems to have said - she apparently thinks you're doing something very dangerous and (presumably) that you don't know that it is but she doesn't express the slightest hint of concern or suggestion that your own child's safety is worth considering! Apparently she couldn't care less if it's your kid that gets the e coli lurking on these strawberries...

Personally i do always wash fruit before giving it to my toddler, I'm a bit more hit and miss about washing it for myself but mostly do (but I've always been sceptical about what a quick dunk in water will achieve). Some of the cleaning methods people are recommending here confuse me though because surely they'd affect the taste or texture of the fruit - even if you rinsed them after cleaning with vinegar wouldn't they retain a bit of a vinegar smell? And once you start soaking soft fruit for a significant period of time doesn't it make them mushy or start to disintegrate? Something with a firm skin like grapes would be ok, but wouldn't strawberries or raspberries fall apart if soaked?

So rude! I wash strawberries when at home but have seen other parents giving my daughter unwashed strawberries and let it go. My own mother laughs at me for washing them!

I remember a thread on here where people said they used washing up liquid on fruit.

Never washed strawberries or raspberries and have eaten untold amounts of blackberries straight from the plant. Am I going to die?!

If someone can come on and explain The Science about how a dribble of tap water can safely remove all traces of anything poisonous on fruit and veg, then I will gladly recant my slovenly ways and wash anything that requires it. But having got to 40 and raised two children so far successfully without washing so much as a grape (sliced into quarters lengthways, not joking about that one) then I'm not sure I'm convinced it's as strictly necessary as they would have us believe.

@Cherrysoup

Never washed strawberries or raspberries and have eaten untold amounts of blackberries straight from the plant. Am I going to die?!

You're dead already. RIP.

I wouldn't wash them.
I wouldn't babysit again.
And would certainly not put vinegar on them (unless she pissed me off again I suppose)
If people are that worried about pesticides they should grow their own.

@icelollycraving

I remember a thread on here where people said they used washing up liquid on fruit.

Its not that weird...we put cups, mugs, crockery in our mouths which we wash in washing up liquid

I would not offer to have her child again. How petty.

My young and very healthy niece died from e-coli poisoning. She suffered a very painful and premature death and I really wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy so I think YABU to be so nasty and dismissive of your neighbours genuine concerns.

But then plenty of posters a think that being required to wear face masks indoors is against their human rights so…🤷🏻‍♀️

@WhiteVixen

If someone can come on and explain The Science about how a dribble of tap water can safely remove all traces of anything poisonous on fruit and veg, then I will gladly recant my slovenly ways and wash anything that requires it. But having got to 40 and raised two children so far successfully without washing so much as a grape (sliced into quarters lengthways, not joking about that one) then I'm not sure I'm convinced it's as strictly necessary as they would have us believe.

Washing will help to remove bacteria or soil or pesticides. It won't remove everything I'm sure but it can't hurt to do it.

@Killahangilion

My young and very healthy niece died from e-coli poisoning. She suffered a very painful and premature death and I really wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy so I think YABU to be so nasty and dismissive of your neighbours genuine concerns.

But then plenty of posters a think that being required to wear face masks indoors is against their human rights so…🤷🏻‍♀️

I am sorry about your niece, but do we need to stuff face mask even where they don't belong? It has no connection

Its not that weird...we put cups, mugs, crockery in our mouths which we wash in washing up liquid

Cups, mugs and crockery are not absorbent - soft fruit is.