How to clean salad and soft fruit ?

[20mum]

Rinsing in plain water cannot be adequate for killing potential virus on food that won't be cooked.

Has anyone solved what to do?

There is a foodwashing liquid from Ecover. Then, someone elsewhere thought vinegar was able to kill corona. The only other thìng in the house is the stuff for cleaning baby bottles.
There's no official advice, which is odd because food processing seems far from secure, as the source of many covid outbreaks Lots of foods never intended for cooking must be grown, harvested, processed and packaged, all in what could be high risk circumstances.

The thought of scrubbing strawberries with washing liquid borders on the bonkers

I'd go crazy taking things to this level

I’m just not eating salad (I don’t really anyway) and I quarantine soft fruit for at least 24 hours then wash with water like normal

What makes you think your salad and soft fruit is going to be crawling with the virus anyway?! Buy the pre packaged stuff if your worried about it, most of it is chlorine rinsed. I could vaguely understand if it's unpacked and open to the elements in a shop but even then I'd only give the usual water rinse I give all fruit and veg where I'm eating without peeling.

Exactly. That's why I don't suggest a scrubbing brush, or washing up liquid. But someone must have an idea what will or won't be adequate. Whatever the food is cleaned in, would need to be in a bowl of water deep enough to cover everything dipped in. Then, it would need to be dunked in a couple of changes of plain water, to rinse it off. But it's strange no official investigation or advice is available. Millions of people all over the world must have needed to devise some answers, each one floundering in the absence of personal access to laboratory testing or expertise on killing virus.

Maybe because it's not actually that big of an issue

Will the water not rinse the particles off? Doesn't need to kill them if they're washed away. I'm not going to start washing my fruit/salad in anything else tbh

I would imagine if there's no official advice it's because there's no real risk.

I wash soft fruit in cold running water, on the assumption that in the (highly improbable anyway) event that there's virus on it, it'll be washed away. I think the Govt's advice throughout has been simply to follow normal food hygiene practice.

I expect because, in reality, there is no evidence that suggests Covid is in practical terms a risk from food. It may be that technically one could show that some virus could sit on it, but I suspect there is zero data showing proper actual infection in real life is any sort of issue.

Rinsing salad and fruit isn't a bad idea anyway, but not because of Covid.

How do you normally wash you fruit and salad ? The risk of any vapour droplets being on your food is minuscule but washing under the tap will clean them.

I use a jet wash - in the garden. Then spend an hour picking them out of the flowerbeds. Nice and clean, they do have a slight it 'earthy' taste but I've got used to that now.

Jet wash

Probably best to have a tin of fruit then you can clean the tin first.

Boil them for 3 hours and then soak in Milton. Obviously that does kill any vitamins but I find you can't be too cautious.

I rinse it under cold water and then eat it.

Not dead yet.

I don't wash soft fruit at all (unless it has a 'hard' skin like nectarines) and even then I don't always bother.

I don't usually eat stuff the day I buy it and things usually go in the fridge for the first couple of days anyway. Personally I think that'll do.

It's probably straightforward for those who rarely eat salad or fruit, or those who are not particularly concerned about Corona 19 because everyone in their household is low risk. It is more difficult for those who need to shield their households extremely carefully. Some, I know, hàve given up meat after the repeated meat packing outbreaks worldwide, but actually, I would have assumed meat should be no threat, even if the surface of it is coated with virus, because people won't be eating it raw, so the cooking heat will presumably quickly sterilise the food. PreCovid or postcovid, nobody would be leaving the worktops or chopping boards dirty anyway, before or after preparing meat.

(Mind you, it seemed amazing to learn that a salmon chopping board was found contaminated at the time of the second Wuhan outbreak. If any government anywhere was likely to be efficient and ruthless in enforcing food hygiene, one might have thought the Chinese would be way ahead, or even Germany, famously efficient, but also finding a second wave of infection centred on food processing)

Some use Milton. Some don't eat it right now. Others are sarcastic and nasty. We just stick to canned and dried fruit at the moment.

If you’re very worried, leave your salad and fruit in the fridge for 72 hours and then wash in normal water and eat. Virus doesn’t live longer than 72 hours apparently.

(Good luck leaving juicy strawberries that long worth ripping open the packet and eating them!)

Perhaps we should pool ideas and jetwash them before boiling for 3 hours?

If any government anywhere was likely to be efficient and ruthless in enforcing food hygiene, one might have thought the Chinese would be way ahead

😂😂😂😅

I'm shielding and don't wash anything, everything I buy is prepacked anyway, and often prepared too.

I just wash with it with tap water...

I'm sorry if I seem rude or sarcastic but I really can't think of any way of treating soft fruit and salad that wouldn't wreck it. So the choice really does seem to be between usual food hygiene practice or not eating it.