To not wash my fruit and veg

[Darkmorningsarethepits]

I just don’t. Never have.
Am I going to die from pesticide exposure or some other hideous hidden danger.

Am I the only person who doesn’t?

My uncle used to work in a warehouse and said some workers used to piss on the food, including the fruit and veg and there were often mice around as well, so yes, I wash all fruit and veg. Maybe washing it doesn’t do much, but I couldn’t not after hearing his stories.

You have obviously never worked on a farm. When you have very little time to fill boxes and you are paid based on how many boxes you have filled, you are not going to get out of the field, walk very far to the toilet and come back. You will do your business just there and no, you won't wash your hands.

I don't. I don't think any nasties on fruit and veg is going to rinse off with a quick spray of water. Anything that didn't come off in the rain or in the processes that supermarkets require of their suppliers, is probably not soluble in water alone. To do any good it would need a longer and stronger process that I wouldn't have time or energy for. I choose to live with the risk that I assess as relatively low, because the minimum level of mitigation that would be needed to reduce that risk is too onerous compared to the potential benefits.

I’ll wash salad that is gritty but that’s about it. I figure it’s good for the microbiome.

No never wash veg, you are boling them that kills all germs. Rinsing fruit under cold water does nothing? I work in a kitchen we have some fancy liquid to put on fruit and veg but l don't bother at home, I'm 58 still alive...

This. A rinse under a warm tap isn’t going to do anything. I’m 60 and have never washed any fruit and I only rinse lettuce if it’s got dirt/bugs on it - no health problems so far!

Because I don’t think it matters that much!

Toxoplasmosis is real, infected cat poo gets into the food chain, I was diagnosed with ocular toxoplasmosis last year and spent months fighting to save my vision in the affected eye. Just as likely to have come from unwashed vegetables or fruit in the food chain as from undercooked meat. Wash fruit and vegetables please

i always rinse fruit & veg in cold water when i bring it home - even the stuff I'm going to peel and/or cook later.

There are two reasons I make the effort to do this:

(a) I've worked in food-growing and food-distribution environments - they are not clean, sterile places. And anything grown outside could harbour bugs and slugs, bird shit, other animal droppings...

(b) I still have a very clear memory of watching an item on TV decades ago that featured farm-workers pissing on spring onions in the field (think they were being grown for M&S)

E Coli and other harmful bacteria are a thing - and unlike previous posters I don't think of them as something that happened once, ages ago. There was actually a rise in E Coli cases in the UK last year (mostly found in sandwiches and wraps, lettuce and spinach etc). I don't want to inadvertently introduce it into my fridge, and contaminate the other food already stored in there!

I hope all of those who are saying they never rinse salad leaves do not work in catering.

I wouldn’t of thought a cold rinse would do much to remove pesticides. I’d assume they are water resistant as surely you don’t want to be washed off every time it rains.

I think I tend to go for things I can peel so bananas and oranges, cucumber. Cucumber is a bit of an ecoli carrier. Prefer cooked spinach as cooking will kill off bugs. I always get a whole iceberg and peel off outer layers before chopping. Again no idea if that helps really but bagged salad can be quite nasty.

I unwrapped my broccoli earlier and something was in there - a moth? Flapping its wings. It was really big! Fuck knows how long it had been in there. I took it outside and then gave the broccoli a very good wash

The e coil is in bagged salad which is sweaty and hot. That’s the risk.

@AquaPeermy friend does the same, probably it gets a lot of the crap off, but I couldn't be bothered with that.

You will, of course, need to wait to see the image... It will be along shortly.

I always wash fruit and veg but I'm sceptical that cold water, rather than hot soapy stuff, is actually cleaning it!

There is!

https://www.nhsinform.scot/ready-steady-baby/pregnancy/looking-after-yourself-and-your-baby/eating-well-in-pregnancy/

Plus most fruit and veg packets literally state "rinse before use"

I wash to remove soil/sand/dust/general muck and grit.

Very tempted to cold water sterilise after this thread though 🤢

I usually rinse something I'm not cooking. So fruit and occasionally veg. I get the 'ready to eat' bagged spinach as I can't be arsed with the one you need to wash as I'm usually eating it in a wrap and I don't want it to be all wet.

Until very recently I never bothered washing veg (unless potatoes looked really muddy). Then I cooked some organic broccoli and when I drained it there were LOADS of tiny flies in the colander. It was so grim. I’ll always wash my veg from now on.

Have you read what you posted? It’s for pregnant women 😂

Yes

Nope, never. Never had food poisoning either and I eat lots of fruit and veg. Rinsing it under cold water is doing fuck all, but if it makes people feel better 🤷‍♀️

I've never washed them, and have not suffered any ill effects.

And do you think a quick rinse would have washed away the bacteria or virus that was on the spinach?

Yes have always rinsed all veg before cooking. Don't want grit or bugs in my food thanks very much!