'Wash before use'

merlot it just tastes like gravy. Think of the vitamins.

Sorry kittye don't worry a bit more protein won't hurt seriously hope I haven't spoil your salad s ?

My father always used to drink the water veg had been cooked in. I use it for gravy. Like posters above, I wash everything - I've seen slugs in ready prepared salads!!

Talking of mushrooms - do who peels them ?

sorry - delete the do please.

I never peel a mushroom. Just a quick brush to remove any soil that may cling.

The best way around this, is to grow your own.
Trust me, lettuce is probably one of the easiest of veg to grow from seed ( including those fancy looking ones with posh names-- they are not an exception ).You do not need a garden. You can even grow some varieties in pots on the windowsill.
The best ones to choose are the "Cut and Come again" varieties. These are a loose leaved type similar to what you find in the Supermarket salad packs, and as the name suggests, you chop off what you want and it will continue to grow. No chemicals, and a lot cheaper and fresher than the supermarket.
Another salad ingredient well worth growing, is good old fashioned Cress.
Often used these days as just a garnish, but fabulous in a sandwich ( butter not margarine though ). We grew it in Infant School on wet blotting paper. in a saucer. It will grow on anything as long as it is kept watered.
Happy Days.

Yes. I can remember the clouds of whitefly coming up from the homegrown cabbage. Nevermore!!!

It's chemical residues we are trying to remove by washing. They're usually on the surface. There was a major report last year about reduction in healthy sperm and stats from research papers show residues linked to breast cancer. Lots of ordinary fruits and veg have high residue levels.

That said I knew someone who used to wash bananas and oranges
Was it Dr Spock who recommended washing oranges before peeling them for children?
'Always wash her orange as it may have been handled by someone with a cold' or words to that effect.
(I may be wrong, I read that 40 years ago!)

I wash fruit (not bananas or anything that is peeled) and I do wash vegetables that are to be steamed such as broccoli and cauliflower.
We don't eat much bagged salad except for watercress and I always wash it despite it saying 'washed and ready to eat'.

and the caterpillars in home-grown broccoli (they hide in the stalks)

Unless we are eating it raw I never bother to wash it and we have never been ill from not washing it.

I put salad leaves, cabbage, spinach and similar in a bowl of cold salty water. The salt takes care of anything creepy crawly. Then rinse. I find greens stay fresh longer in a vacuum, so I try to remove all the air before closing the bag with a clip.

I still wonder whether a quick swill under a cold tap really removes pesticide residue. The water just beads on apples, tomatoes, pears etc. Washing to me suggests more than just water.