Washing vegetables AIBU to ask what's normal

[Annabella92]

So I remember a few years back there was an ecoli scare and for a couple of hours the theory was it was from Spanish cucumbers, so we were reminded then we should be washing our fruit and veg. In the wholefoods shop you can buy special rinses to rinse off pesticides from your produce. My Dad always said that these are designed to withstand rain and watering do the idea that a quick rinse will do anything is ridiculous. I've also heard many tales of fruitpickers scratching their bums and noses and handling our unwashed goods.

So obviously I think about this a fair bit!!! What is normal? What do you do? When I'm cooking for my family I tend to be a very thorough fruit and veg washer. But if I'm making a quick sandwich I'll not rinse the Iceberg, I might give the tomato a quick rub on my sleeve and I'll eat blueberries out the punnet while I'm driving.

What do you do? Which do you worry about more, bacteria or pesticides or none?

Rarely wash anything unless obviously dirty which is mainly pure laziness

This is why I rarely eat at other peoples houses unless they’re close family. 🤢

I never used to, but reading articles about pesticide residues and hygiene conditions on farms made me think. I now wash fruit and veg in the sink with a bit of soapy water and rinse off.

That wasn't the poster's point though, was it.

It was a response to another poster who thinks it's fine to post tropes, generalisations and xenophobic comments about British people, and was being challenged that they wouldn't post the same about Indians and Egyptians, for example.

And since when has being "politically correct" 🙄been a bad thing? It's like calling someone "woke" because they are aware of/care about others.

I don't wash any fruit or veg, I've never even thought about it. Most comes in a pack so no one else has touched it and surely any cooking will kill anything off. It must be ok as I'm never sick from anything I've eaten.

I suspect that this poster hails from the southern hemisphere

People post generalisations about Indians, Egyptians and lots of other countries daily in the Uk , you’re going to have to put your big girl pants on and not get your feelings hurt about British folks not washing their vegetables. Also, Caring truly about someone and pretending to in order to appear “ good” is horrible. Is that what “woke” folks do then I h@te it intensely.

What a horrible and spiteful post. Where has the poster talked about pretending to care for people? It seems she actually does, unlike how you come across in your post. I don’t think it’s up to you to tell people not to get hurt about people making sweeping generalisations about a nation. As for being ‘woke’, if you don’t understand what it means then do a bit of research rather than make it up like you seem to have.

Just because others may make generalisations based on nationality doesn’t mean people have to accept it? The poster is right on calling bigotry out, maybe you should reflect on it rather than telling people to put up with it.

What do you think will.happen?

I don't wash much, I old and not dead yet

I always rinse them, but I see in the US and Australia they use a special solution and soak them. I would never go that far.

What kind of stupid question is that? I don’t need to envision what I think will happen, people have shown on this thread that they’re nasty. It’s just a no for me.

I peel all veg before it’s cooked, so apart from jacket spuds (which I wash with a potato brush I was given by my great grandmother) I don’t wash them.
Fruit I will usually give a solid wash under cold running water and let it pass over.
I generally don’t bother with salad items, unless there’s obvious dirt, but generally I buy a pre bagged and pre washed salad as I’m the only one who eats it so there’s no iceberg wilting in the fridge.

I wash everything, except things that are peeled first, such as oranges. My version of washing is rinsing it under running water, rubbing with my hands as I do so. I try to buy organic when I can, so in theory there should be minimal traces of pesticides on them, but having worked as a fruit picker as a teenager where we were paid on a piece work basis, I can tell you that many pickers didn't take the time to walk to the portaloo two fields away, so I think there are likely to be traces of urine and maybe faecal material present (human and animal).

I often wonder if the little pile of salad garnish you get if you order a sandwich in a shop, has been washed?

I do sometimes eat wild blackberries etc straight from the bush, although more cautiously now after once being violently sick shortly after doing so.

And I always rinse after washing up. I can't stand the sight of "clean" cooking utensils covered in foam!

If that’s what you understood from this, the problem is yours not mine. Sleep tight and don’t let the bugs bite.