sticky labels on apples - remove before washing!

I'm another who always washes shop-bought fruit before eating.

I gamble with my home-grown fruits, as I do 'graze' on them unwashed when I am out in the garden (as long as they at least look clean) even though I am aware of how many animals and birds have been on or over them. Those that make it into the house are washed before eating though, as I don't want to push my luck too far!

I buy organic whenever I can. Don't forget the skin on fruit contains a large proportion of the nutrients and if not organic then likely spray residues. I don't eat many apples and prefer berries much easier to add to cereals and puds.

I peel all fruit. They are usually coated with wax, and you have no idea how many people have handled them.

MissInterpreted we live in a different time. I will be 66 next month. We used to have a bag just for potatoes because they always had dried soil on them . What they call wonky veg was just veg years ago. Veg came in all shapes and sizes . Standardisation was due to supermarkets . Miss curly cucumbers and comical shaped veg.

With my parents and then once married with my husband when the children were toddlers and young teens we went to pick your own places . One of the many things I miss since he died 20 years ago.

I always take the labels of fruit and price your own veg before washing as they come off easily. The only thing I don't wash is mushrooms and just brush the dirt off them . If you wash them they just absorb water. But I freeze most fruit and veg as being disabled I can't cook fresh everyday and don't like some frozen veg and fruit . I can't cut veg up so things are washed and prepared and frozen whole ready to be used from frozen I never blanch anything. Can't peel butternut squash or sweet potatoes so line a roasting tin with foil put in veg prick water in and cover with foil and bake for a hour. Once cold peel comes off easily and seeds out with a spoon. Bagged and frozen . Given up on onions just us leeks as easier to prep.

Make enough homemade red lentil and veg soup to last 6 lunches and make enough stew,lasagne or pasta bake to last 6 dinners . Always have same diet all year round. Porridge for breakfast cooked in the microwave. But I always have healthy lunch and dinners in the fridge just to reheat.

I wouldn't do it now, HelterSkelter1 - but when we were children, we never thought twice about it.

Crikey you wouldnt want to drink from the local stream now MissInterpreted. Our local "stream"" here is the Thames. The boat race teams are being advised not to get wet. No drinking or dunking for them.

Makes you wonder doesn’t it MissInterpreted. The fruit other children scrumped too, not me of course!

Makes you wonder how we all survived this long. We used to pick fruit off trees or bushes at the roadside or in fields and eat it there and then - and drink water from the local stream. Still here to tell the tale...

I always peel apples, safer and peel tastes yukky anyway.

HelterSkelter1

Why don't you wash fruit Jaxjacky? If they come from a shop? If you grow them yourself that could be different I suppose.

Also self-protection from bird poo. I grow much of my own fruit and believe me, bird poo can and does fall on apples. I wash all my own grown fuit too, I use veggie wash and then rinse in clean water

Yes. The code is also called the PLU Product Look Up so is will be used for that too.

That's interesting, TinSoldier. I always assumed that the labels also tell a supermarket till operator what kind and price they are. Not that our Tesco sells much in the way of loose fruit at all.

Skydancer

Why on earth do apples need sticky labels anyway?

To tell you where the fruit has been grow and how is has been grown either by conventional methods or organically and whether it has been genetically modified.

Four digits means it had been grown conventionally. five digits starting with 9 means it has been grown organically and 8 means genetically modified.

The codes are issued by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS).

I always wash fruit and peel where I can. I had a very bad experience after picking apples on a fruit farm then I drove home whilst eating an apple. Two of us were in agony by the time we got back (not far) luckily two loos were available at our destination. My dd gets cross if I peel apples for the gc.

Why on earth do apples need sticky labels anyway?

Pink Lady apples are the best! Jazz come a close second.
I never have trouble getting labels off.

I always wash fruit and veg.
I had a friend who used to wash bacon slices ...... I don't do that!

That is interesteing Esmay and explains why they are more expensive.

HelterSkelter1

Why don't you wash fruit Jaxjacky? If they come from a shop? If you grow them yourself that could be different I suppose.

Probably because my parents never did HelterSkelter and because I try and eat local, seasonal fruit and vegetables, the exception being blueberries and bananas.
Mell967 👋👋

I, also, don’t wash any fruit or vegetables.
Life’s too short,
I must be sloppy as well.

Why don't you wash fruit Jaxjacky? If they come from a shop? If you grow them yourself that could be different I suppose.

I have a brush which I keep especially for washing fruit.
Even organic fruit/veg need washing.
Even melon and grapefruit for example as you may transfer bacteria to the edible parts from the skin.

Technically washing with a surfecant is best - though I confess I don't do that usually.

My mam always washed fruit and vegetable because she said that you don’t know what chemicals they have on them. Also people handling them. If you get them off a market stall then maybe people have sneezed on them. So I always wash all of it before eating and cooking.

That's interesting TinSoldier and Esmay thank you. Amazing what you learn on G'net!

That’s a bit rude karmalady and first time I’ve ever been called sloppy, I’m not careless or lazy.