Washing Fruits and Vegetables

[Live And Learn]

I give everything a good rinse buy you guys are scaring me enough that I may start doing more ! DH doesn't rinse anything despite my repeated attempts to gross-him-out into doing it

 

[LOL!]

It is amusing that folks wash a bunch of germs off things, then they go looking to buy germs in the form of probiotics to eat. Then there are prebiotics which sound like probiotics.

I would guess that ingesting soap & detergent was just as bad as ingesting pesticides. Vinegar is OK, but what else is in that acetic acid?

 

[CoolChange]

....
Is there any specific evidence or research people have seen that suggests one specific type of wash over another to remove pesticides? (i.e. vinegar and water, versus diluted dish soap, etc.)

I did a bit of poking around on the 'net looking for just this before starting this thread; but, I did not find anything useful amongst all the noise. Honestly, I was hoping someone from this esteemed group would post exactly what you are asking about.

Note: I did find some very positive pages with regard to using a vinegar & water wash for disinfecting produce, enough to convince me this is useful.

....
I would guess that ingesting soap & detergent was just as bad as ingesting pesticides. Vinegar is OK, but what else is in that acetic acid?

This is part of the reason I do not do more at this point; although, I am already inclined to start using a vinegar wash rather than just tap water.

I am also hoping to hear from some folks living in less developed areas of the world on this subject. When I first started traveling to Mexico, 20+ years ago, it seemed that almost everyone was washing produce in either a bleach and water solution or one made with some kind of silver compound, both very diluted. Now, it seems that almost no one is doing this; but, I do not know why:

• Better general sanitation
• Preventative worse than risk
• Other

This is another area where I would welcome any actual evidence.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Pretty lackadaisical when it's just DH and me, lightly rinsing off only stuff that we don't peel. Superclean when we have company over for dinner, though. I do rub mushrooms with a dry paper towel to get whatever that black stuff is off.

My grown kids wash all produce (which they buy only organic anyway), peeled or not, in some fancy soap before serving to our grandkids. I probably would too if I were a young parent today.

 

[Dash man]

I rinse off fruits and vegetables to get any remaining soil off. In many vegetables pesticide residue on the surface is minimal, but some may have been absorbed into the produce and couldn't be washed off anyway. Some items are coated in a waxy substance to help preserve them, trapping any residue that is there. Many organic items may not actually be organic since controls and inspections are minimal. So I pretty much just hope it won't affect me before something else gets me first. I've tried growing my own organic veggies, but the little buggers get to it before I do. I'm at least thankful pesticides keep people from being hungry and living long enough to worry about the long term effects.


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[audreyh1]

We wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, often using a type of fruit/veggie wash and rinsing well.

Mushrooms we only wipe.

We eat out often enough to expose our immune systems.

 

[Cassie]

Like Richard444, I use vinegar for some fruits. I also try to buy organic.

 

[Meadbh]

Like Richard444, I use vinegar for some fruits. I also try to buy organic.

View attachment 20582

Hmm. Must give this a try. Anything that stops my strawberries from going fuzzy must be good. These days vinegar is my go-to household chemical of choice.

 

[FUEGO]

We wash most things before eating. Some veggies have dirt on them like celery, potatoes, and zucchini. I wash most fruit. Plain water wash, no soap or vinegar.

I don't wash lettuce any more. I just peel off the outermost 1-2 layers and eat whatever is inside. I probably consume a bug or two per head. Free protein.

 

[CoolChange]

Some Links and My Current Thoughts

Good subject... Will be very interesting....

Thank you. This thread did generate more activity than I expected.

I use a mixture of vinegar and water for all of the vegetables and berries that I use [-]for a shake[/-] to sit in for 15 minutes, then rinse well in an attempt to get rid of as much pesticide as practical. Also, I only use organic if I can.

After quite a bit of reading over the weekend, this is the habit I am going to try get myself into for my produce. This seems to be the best cost/benefit, risk/reward, etc. in my mind.

The vinegar & water wash is the best option in my opinion for reducing pathogens. Here is a pointer to one of the better studies I found on this topic; the abstract is free: Reduction of poliovirus 1, bacteriophages, Salmonella montevideo, a... - PubMed - NCBI

Apparently, buying organic and rinsing with tap water (link below) are the two best approaches to reducing pesticides (other than buying/raising organically). While I am probably too cheap and lazy to go all organic, I will likely pay more attention to this for the items at the top of this list which ranks pesticide residue after rinsing (and, sometimes pealing): EWG's 2014 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™

I rinse anything I might actually eat (not bananas, obviously, because I don't eat the peel). I also scrub lightly with my fingertips while rinsing.

....
Is there any specific evidence or research people have seen that suggests one specific type of wash over another to remove pesticides? (i.e. vinegar and water, versus diluted dish soap, etc.)

Here one link to some research I found on the 'net this weekend on this subject. My summary is that W2R's method of scrubbing with tap water is about the best thing we can do for removing pesticides: CAES: Removal of Trace Pesticide Residues from Produce

I thought Cosmo Kramer had a great idea when he was preparing everything in the shower.

As do I; but, my current shower doesn't have the workspace that I would need nor a disposal. This may be a consideration for the next remodel. It should also reduce the number of dinner guests I entertain.