To ask how well you wash your fruit?

[Badoukas]

So lately I've been eating more soft fruit like raspberries, blueberries, cherries etc. The type you get in plastic trays from supermarkets, not marketed as organic.

Does anyone know if this kind of product is likely to have been sprayed with pesticides, and if so, how much rinsing does it actually need? I feel like I could be trying to do something healthy whilst simultaneously poisoning myself with nasty chemicals!

If I buy fresh, a quick rinse. But honestly try frozen berries, so much cheaper and no waste - just defrost the amount you want.

Ok this thread is almost convincing me. Do people find berries last ok once the opened packet has been rinsed? Or do they go mushy quicker? Thanks

Yes maybe, presumably you got my gist though.

Don't wash until using as they deteriorate faster.

Just a quick 5-10 second wash under the tap .

Amazed by how many people don't rinse at all. That's crazy.

Sometimes, raw fruits and vegetables contain harmful germs that can make you and your family sick, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. CDC estimates that germs on fresh produce cause a large percentage of foodborne illnesses in the United States.

The safest produce to eat is cooked; the next safest is washed. You can enjoy uncooked fruits and vegetables by taking the following steps to reduce your risk of foodborne illness, also known as food poisoning.

My workmate smokes 80 fags a day. He's still very much alive.

Thank goodness for that! I thought I was the only one who didn't bother to wash fruit!

We used to live near a fruit farm in Devon, they were sprayed loads. I would never eat fruit without washing it but only wash it when I'm going to use it. A lot of packaging tells you that it should be washed before you eat it.

I wonder if you wash your hands before eating with a ‘quick rinse?’ If an animal shit on you you’d give your hand a ‘quick rinse?’

If a quick rinse wouldn’t help in those cases then why do you think it makes a difference to your fruit? Rinsing something under the tap won’t make any difference to whatever the ‘grubby pickers’ have done.

Rinse under tap. DP never washes fruit and it's never done him any harm, but psychologically a quick rinse makes me feel happier!

I have never washed fruit or poultry (which seems to be the norm in USA), rinsed mushrooms or anything else. I also don't rinse things before they go in the dishwasher, iron teatowels, or anything else that MN pearl-clutchers would condemn me to life imprisonment for. There are lots of other things I'd rather be doing, and none of the family has ever caught anything nasty, so I shall continue to be a slob and a slattern.

Never

😂😂

I don't wash fruit and I can't imagine a "quick rinse" really does much to get it cleaner.

Raspberries, blueberries etc. - I soak them for 2-3 minutes in water with vinegar. Other fruit like apples, bananas- hot water and soap 😂

I don't bother. Most fruit is already pre-washed prior to packing anyway.

If pesticides washed off they wouldn't bother putting it on in the first place

What??? Honestly. Water washes things away. This is not news. What do you think pesticides are made of that they would not wash off the surface?

It's not only about pesticides. I always imagine someone didn't wash hands after no.2 and then picked strawberries I am going to eat 😂

I don't bother washing it. No harm has come to me yet!

I don’t and never have done 😅

Years ago while at college I used to work in Sainsbury's on the produce section.

I wash everything...well.

Something fairly water repellant to stop it washing off when they water it or it rains obviously

I've always washed fruits and vegetables. They have been doused with pesticides, and handled by different people.
Better be safe.
The water won't get rid of everything so we're all still eating way too much of the pesticides...