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

@PrincessNutella🙄🙄🙄 nobody I know washes fruit unless it visibly needs too be wAshed. Such disgusting friends and family.

Under 40 degrees wash and the bacteria just festers all the more.

Don't you use any detergents in your wash?

But finding E Coli won't tell you much, because it's so common.

That depends where you are looking for it. In a human (or other animals) E. coli is totally normal, it's a standard gut bacterium, everyone on this thread will have E. coli in their gut, and that is only a worry if it is one of the strains that is pathogenic, the vast majority of E. coli aren't. Some strains are used in probbiotics.
In normal soils, or on beaches, or outside an animal it isn't common, which is why E. coli is used as an indicator organism for fecal contamination. If there are E. coli found they will come from a contamination event and means that other, more serious, but also more difficult to grow species will also be present.
We use culture methods to determin E. coli numbers in these cases because molecular methods (like qPCR) are too sensitive and they don't tell you if the cells are viable or not.

I’m sure they are likely covered in some sort of pesticide, poo residue and an odd bug here and there but I’ve never washed one yet and I’m still kicking several decades on. Never washed one for my kids and they have made it to adulthood.

I’ve never washed fruit or veg unless it’s visibly dirty. I did grow up in a house that lived on microwave meals so I think that may be why it never crossed my mind.

@MaryLennoxsScowl

I used to work on a strawberry farm. Wash your strawberries. And to those saying positively that farms wash strawberries before they get to the supermarket - ha ha ha, nope. I would eat a strawberry off a plant in my garden (sunlight kills germs), but never ever from a supermarket punnet, sprayed with pesticides, picked by a picker who hasn’t washed their hands (they get paid by the punnet, not by the hour, the toilets are very far from the fields so they pee in the fields), and then stored in a supermarket warehouse with rats in a punnet with holes in.

Good advice.

[quote PrincessNutella]Strawberries are the most pesticide-ridden of all British fruits. wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk/news/health-farming/strawberries-top-dirty-dozen-pesticide-list[/quote]
By that logic we should all be washing our porridge as that link suggests oats are actually the most contaminated

I wash strawberries at home to remove pesticides and anything else that maybe on them (theoretically that might include viruses such as Covid). However, I wouldnt consider them dangerous if not washed. Pesticides are in trace amounts and might build up in the body over time if I never washed strawberries but omitting to wash them occasionally shouldnt(in my view) cause any harm. Likewise even if they had been touched by someone with Covid most young children are asymtomatic when catching Covid so would suffer no harm and simple washing under a tap may not remove the virus anyway.

I would be tempted to ask her if her DD has any vulnerabilities that mean the occasional consumption of a few unwashed strawberries is dangerous? You could mention that you normally wash at home but since out there were no washing facilities so she doesnt tell everyone you never bother washing anything!

In your situation I wouldnt take her DD again as you were doing her a favour and she’s going to make you worry about your every move if you have her again. Even if a paid childcarer did this to my child I wouldnt raise it in this way. I might mention I normally wash her strawberries and ask if she normally would when there are washing facilities available but I wouldnt be sending a text like the one she sent you!

I wash my DS strawberries, but he's only 1. But that text was so rude!!

Just reply "don't worry, there won't be a next time :)" and leave her to figure it out

Love it

I know someone who got one of the forms of Hepatitis (and was very ill for a while) after eating a soft fruit that hadn't been washed and was served in a very prestigious restaurant setting! (Traced back to the fruit pickers). So it's made me more careful than I would usually otherwise be but I'm not obsessive (I would eat unwashed one myself on impulse but would always wash if serving to others).

I do think a lot of people have a real neurosis about germs than is publically acknowledged though. Is Kate a PFB by the way?

On a related topic, I have friends who were still chopping up their DD's grapes into quarters when she was well beyond the toddler years.

she is rude, would she have said the same about an apple?

Her message sounds quite rude and it would have probably come across better in a conversation.

However, I always wash fruit and veg. Mainly because there was a News story many years ago about a disease outbreak after a private dinner function. Public health officials were scratching their heads because they couldn't work out how the disease was spread. I cannot remember what the disease was now. Anyway, they eventually tracked the source to the raspberries in the desert that had not been washed. Apparently it is common for fruit pickers to wee in their bags of fruit to make the fruit wet and heavier. Pickers usually get paid by weight rather than their time. So the diners caught the disease from a fruit pickers wee. I now ALWAYS wash!

Occasionally I wouldn’t worry but with young and old I’d be more careful/considerate. I’m always shocked when food poisoning happens again and kills. It’s because we don’t see germs so we feel immune but it’s the reason we have had to be told basic hygiene guidelines agaiin now.

A question - when we say 'wash the fruit' - do you mean something more than a rinse under the tap?

Because I don't normally bother, but if I did, that's all I'd do, which I can't imagine is actually that much better for the little nasties, just for big ick.

Clearly you ring her about midnight - “I couldn’t sleep for worrying about your DD - how is she?”

Don't think of this as passive aggressive Op, think of it as a glorious get out clause to never look after her DC again. Next time she's desperate for childcare she'll be kicking herself

Out of habit I hull and wash mine but my SIL does neither and I would never dream of commenting like that. The mother here obviously has no idea that washing with cold water does not get rid of seriously bad stuff.
I couldn’t let the comment go I’m afraid. I would say I’m very happy to look after Kate but not to receive such a rude text from you.

I knew someone who died after eating an unwashed piece of fruit. It had pesticides or something on, she had an allergic reaction. The whole town was so shocked and sad. I always wash fruit and tell DC how it is important.

I knew someone who died after eating an unwashed piece of fruit. It had pesticides or something on, she had an allergic reaction.

Maybe she was allergic to the fruit. Some people have odd fruit allergies and it doesn’t have to be the first time you eat it either.

I never wash fruit and veg. Unless it was visibly dirty.
DS age 3 seems fairly robust so far!

@PrincessNutella

I am a little surprised that people are bragging about not washing any fruit or vegetables. That is seriously disgusting. Please tell me this is not common in the UK.

Definitely not common. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t wash fruit before eating it.

What an enlightening thread, fruit pickers wee 🤮🤮🤮.
Gosh never again soft fruits when out and about!

Send this... 'no problem! I'm planning on taking them blackberry-ing next time. I'll make sure I bring my hose with me'

It's one thing washing fruit at home but a punnet of strawberries has been present at every picnic I've ever attended and I've never known anyone refuse one based on the fact they've not been washed. Can't believe she had the cheek to message, especially in that way after you did her a favour