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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have fed her DC unwashed strawberries?

667 replies

brilliantdances · 12/07/2021 17:19

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

OP posts:
user1471523870 · 13/07/2021 13:55

@FinallyHere

One of the few advantages of getting old, well 60's so not old but still, is that I can honestly say I've eaten unwashed strawberries for nearly sixty years with no ill effects.

The people who insist on washing everything "to avoid risk" misunderstand the role of the immune system. It's job is to fight off anything ingested that could do us harm.

The immune system needs to have things to fight off in order to get stronger. If you wash everything, you are not giving your immune system the opportunity to grow stronger.

p.s. I'd not reply to the message and would not be able to oblige, if I were ever asked again.

While I agree on the role of the immune system fighting germs and bacteria, fruit and veg are exposed to pesticide, unless they are organic.

I don't think there is a direct risk if you eat unwashed veg/fruit occasionally, but it's a good norm to give them a rinse and try and ingest as less pollutants as possible.

billy1966 · 13/07/2021 13:57

@TheKeatingFive

I guess we all make different decisions regarding our children, the only way to make sure things are always done your way is to look after them yourself.

Yup 😉

Me too. It's a dust thing more than anything.

I think she was very rude and IMO a right CF.

There is huge entitlement in sending a text like that to someone who has done you a favour that you asked for.
Almost a superiority text.

I don't care how nice Kate is, hell would freeze over before she would be invited back.

MsTSwift · 13/07/2021 14:11

Whatever the rights and wrongs of fruit rinsing that is fucking rude when you did a nice thing for her kid. Was she raised by wolves? Zero manners. Urgh.

DIYandEatCake · 13/07/2021 14:16

I wouldn’t be so offended at being asked to wash fruit next time - we all parent differently - but the end of the message is way OTT, I’d have no idea how to reply to that (I think silence is probably the best plan!). It does slightly remind me of my own mum though - when I was a young child I was seriously ill (hospitalised) with food poisoning, and for the rest of my childhood she was totally obsessive about food safety, washing things etc. She would have had a panic attack if I’d ever eaten an unwashed strawberry.

Mum233 · 13/07/2021 14:38

I do wash them first however I think when someone else looks after yourself children to an extent you need to accept that everyone does things differently and it’s unlikely to cause any harm. I certainly wouldn’t have said anything!

3Britnee · 13/07/2021 15:28

MN is ridiculous. Don't eat chicken nuggets and boil wash everything in sight 20 times a day, but don't wash your produce, so you ingest actual shit.

Ok then.

Ozanj · 13/07/2021 15:33

You should always wash strawberries grown inorganically as they get sprayed with growth hormones and pesticides. Some from abroad (Morocco and Spain especially) even get ‘waxed’ before they come here.

Ozanj · 13/07/2021 15:37

@Mum233

I do wash them first however I think when someone else looks after yourself children to an extent you need to accept that everyone does things differently and it’s unlikely to cause any harm. I certainly wouldn’t have said anything!
There’s a difference between doing things differently and following basic hygiene practices.
TheKeatingFive · 13/07/2021 15:58

There’s a difference between doing things differently and following basic hygiene practices.

As this thread shows, plenty of people don’t always wash fruit, to no great ill effect, so if you feel strongly, don’t entrust your childs care to someone else.

FilledSoda · 13/07/2021 16:01

It would be hard to resist replying, " there won't be a next time".

ConsuelaHammock · 13/07/2021 16:03

Reply “ Next time ?😂”

Clymene · 13/07/2021 16:08

@ConsuelaHammock

Reply “ Next time ?😂”
Yes. Do that.

The right response when someone provides free childcare is to say thank you very much. Even if they fed your child nothing but haribo

3Britnee · 13/07/2021 17:04

If you wouldn't eat food that dropped on the pavement, and I'm assuming hope everyone here wouldn't, why wouldn't you wash your fruit/veg?

Clymene · 13/07/2021 17:36

[quote Mummyford]@Clymene
I always wash my Haribo[/quote]
Grin

JustLoveYourselfALittle · 13/07/2021 17:40

I'm awful rarely wash fruit. My kids devour it on the way home or as I'm unpacking so I can unpack in peace.

Ijsbear · 13/07/2021 17:45

They are dangerous if not washed properly

I have a mental image of a horde of toe-high strawberries rampaging with tiny little knives and demanding Free Showers for All.

user1471538283 · 13/07/2021 17:50

I tend to wash fruit but my DS has eaten unwashed strawberries even with extra dirt from the garden.

As a child I ate coal, worms, dirt and bugs if they were still on the salad.

I wouldn't look after her child again.

motogogo · 13/07/2021 17:53

Never wash them myself Blush

Wonder why the child brought it up? Germ phobic house?

Rainbowsew · 13/07/2021 18:01

"don't worry, there won't be a next time Smile..."

countrygirl99 · 13/07/2021 18:16

@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.
You probably have rats and mice passing and pooing in your garden not tormenting wild bids defecating all over the place. Oh, and next doors cats.
countrygirl99 · 13/07/2021 18:20

@3Britnee

An easy way to do it is to make a sink of water and milton or vinegar when you come back with your shopping. Remove all fruit and veg from any packaging and put in the sink. Zoosh it a bit and give each thing a rub with your hands. Do it in batches if you have to. Leave it to soak a bit and then remove the softer things and leave out to dry. Wash the harder things with a vegetable brush. Leave those out to air dry too. Then when it's all dry put it away in the fridge. That's what I've started doing, it saves having to wash things every time from the fridge and things last longer.
But then you are eating Milton. Yuck
3Britnee · 13/07/2021 18:22

Rinse it in plain water after,before leaving it to dry.

And I'd rather eat milton than fertilizer shit

3Britnee · 13/07/2021 18:25

Milton is find to ingest anyway. I've just googled incase I was wrong and you can put it in water to make it safe to drink and you can even use it as a mouthwash.

I know what I'd rather have all over my fruit or veg.

Pootle40 · 13/07/2021 18:26

Nutcase

Pootle40 · 13/07/2021 18:27

I never wash fruit or veg. I'm 45 and unscathed.