Washing produce

I have never even heard of special "veggie washes". Do we have them in the UK, anyone?

To me it sounds like some company has created a market out of nothing
 
http://www.tryfit.com/

I actually got some to try and the one thing I do use it on is grapes, the grapes in the stores where I am always seem to have a bit of some kind of residue on them which water alone doesn't seem to deal with well, where a few sprays of this takes it right off. They definitely feel and look better after being washed with that stuff, I'm sure it's just a dilute soap thats designed to not have an aftertaste or something.

They seem to taste better without the residue, but that could just be a psychological effect.

I don't use it on anything else though, and I only remember to wash the fruit/veggie some of the time.
 
GlennB said:
Commercially grown veg that is eaten raw and grown at ground level needs washing. Lettuce, cucumber etc. Don't be impressed by pre-packaged stuff that looks clean.
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I don't have a source at the moment, but I've read before that bags of "washed" greens shouldn't be re-rinsed at home. That the commercial washing is really pretty good and you're more likely to introduce contamination from your kitchen sink than you are to remove anything harmful.

I'm horribly lazy, so I choose to believe that. :)

Edit: I think this is the one I was thinking of.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap/FoodSafety/News/Freshcut_Produce_ReWash_Recommendations2007.pdf
 
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I usually try to rinse off obvious dirt and leave it at that.

My woman doesn't even bother with that.
 
casebro said:
"Excess sanitation" seems to come up as harmful in studies from time to time. Cleaner people seem to be more prone to allergies. And "fecal transplants" are a bonafide treatment for some intestinal infections. And dysentery can be treated by eating fresh horse dung. Seems a horses stomach is a good place to breed beneficial biota.

You can't catch "The Plague" form stuff that has no plague germs on it. And you won't catch anything you have immunity to already. Then there are all those beneficial germs. You can't give yourself any disease from your own ejecta, because you already have that germ. So I think sanitation is vastly over rated.

And pesticide fear with today's bug sprays is unreasonable.

And I doubt that anything harmful will still be harmfiul after cooking.

So sometimes I wash of the visible dirt, sometime I don't work that hard.
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What he said.

temporalillusion said:
http://www.tryfit.com/

I actually got some to try and the one thing I do use it on is grapes, the grapes in the stores where I am always seem to have a bit of some kind of residue on them which water alone doesn't seem to deal with well, where a few sprays of this takes it right off. They definitely feel and look better after being washed with that stuff, I'm sure it's just a dilute soap thats designed to not have an aftertaste or something.

They seem to taste better without the residue, but that could just be a psychological effect.

I don't use it on anything else though, and I only remember to wash the fruit/veggie some of the time.
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http://www.chow.com/food-news/53503...ff-on-grapes/?tag=search_results;results_list
http://www.freshcaliforniagrapes.com/foodservice/terms.php
 
temporalillusion said:
http://www.tryfit.com/

I actually got some to try and the one thing I do use it on is grapes, the grapes in the stores where I am always seem to have a bit of some kind of residue on them which water alone doesn't seem to deal with well, where a few sprays of this takes it right off. They definitely feel and look better after being washed with that stuff, I'm sure it's just a dilute soap thats designed to not have an aftertaste or something.

They seem to taste better without the residue, but that could just be a psychological effect.

I don't use it on anything else though, and I only remember to wash the fruit/veggie some of the time.
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The residue is naturally occurring yeasts. Grapes have it, Plums have heavy layers. You can make natural wine by just crushing the fruit, no yeast added. But you do run the chance of also getting an acetobactor, which will turn the alcohol you want into vinegar. Since I have no need for a 10 gallon batch of plum vinegar, I add potassium metabisulphite to kill off all of the natural stuff, and replace with champagne yeast. She's a-bubbling still, so it is working.

But most fruit and veggie uses don't leave it sitting on the counter for 2-3 months. I need to be a bit more protective of wine than I would with tonight's dinner.
 
I just pick the stuff up from the open boxes in the village shop, take it home, put it in the fruit bowl, then pick it up and eat it.

Never occurred to me to wash it.

Still alive, currently.
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Fruit I wouldn't worry about too much.

Commercially grown veg that is eaten raw and grown at ground level needs washing. Lettuce, cucumber etc. Don't be impressed by pre-packaged stuff that looks clean.

p.s the gazzillion little green caterpillars that lurk with perfect camouflage in your home-grown brocolli represent an excellent source of accidental animal protein
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I usually try to rinse off obvious dirt and leave it at that.

My woman doesn't even bother with that.
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What about germs from the (presumably) many people, from pickers to stockers to shoppers, who have handled the produce? For now, let's put pesticides/residue/insects aside. Is the handling by other people a non-issue?

Also, regarding bags of washed greens or carrots--I'm not worried about those. It's stuff like apples and grapes, that are handled by many people, and that don't get cooked or peeled.
 
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jimtron said:
What about germs from the (presumably) many people, from pickers to stockers to shoppers, who have handled the produce? For now, let's put pesticides/residue/insects aside. Is the handling by other people a non-issue?

Also, regarding bags of washed greens or carrots--I'm not worried about those. It's stuff like apples and grapes, that are handled by many people, and that don't get cooked or peeled.
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Well, that can be a concern, but if you're buying bagged fruit (apples, oranges, etc.) or fruit in clam shell packaging, it was likely touched only by the person who picked it, and possibly by someone on a grading line, whose job it was to remove low quality fruit.

ETA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu-vb5O61rI
 
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bowlofred said:
I don't have a source at the moment, but I've read before that bags of "washed" greens shouldn't be re-rinsed at home. That the commercial washing is really pretty good and you're more likely to introduce contamination from your kitchen sink than you are to remove anything harmful.

I'm horribly lazy, so I choose to believe that. :)
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But when the contaminated spinach was a problem a couple years ago, the experts were saying that, of course, you always need to wash it for yourself no matter what it says on the packaging.
 
Kitchen sinks are badly contaminated. I would wash your fruit/veg in soapy water, in a clean bowl, then rinsing under running water. Leafy veg should be turned upside down and swiched about so the water gets in between the leaves.
 
When people get sick from food, it's because of identifiable microbes. I've never heard of a single instance where someone ate a fruit or vegetable and was poisoned by insecticide or fungicide residue.
 
Darat, if I click on that link am I going to hate you? I think I am going to hate you...
 
I autoclave all my fruits and veggies. ;)

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Ok, seriously, all I've ever done is a quick wash under the tap myself. As far as I know, there's been no correlation between my being sick and my not taking any measures further than that with produce.
 
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