Washing fruit and veg.

I only wash bell peppers if I've had to peel off a sticky label. I tend not to wash anything else. DH occasionally asks if I've washed the tomatoes, I've not killed any of us yet.

Ps, my mother had a saying, "a man has to eat a peck of dirt before he dies," so I've never worried about rinsing fruit and veg.

It’s not so much the dirt as the chemicals used in the production of non-organic food.

I always wash all fruit and vegetables, I got into the habit living abroad.

Germanshepherdsmum

It’s not so much the dirt as the chemicals used in the production of non-organic food.

I suspect that chemicals used in agriculture will be an intrinsic part of the product and washing them won’t get rid of that. That’s not to say I don’t wash things, but I’m under no illusion it rids the item of chemicals.

Not a washer either.

The main reason I wash untreated fruit and veg is the pesticides they are doused in.

Like others, I am not sure washing in cold water will wash off pesticide residues. I buy organic where I can, grow a lot myself and then just accept that a life free of risk is impossible.

Luckygirl3

The trouble with reading Gransnet is that every day I am made aware of what a sloven I am!

I never wash anything that says washed a ready to eat.

You and me both! Either that or some people are verging on OCD...

It’s worth doing everything to avoid catching some things especially salmonella and E. coli. Which people can catch from lettuce.

What was it Shirley Conrad said: lifes too short to stuff a mushroom
The same goes for washing a lettuce that’s been raised and packaged in super high clean polytunnels.

Shirley Conran presumably didn’t have a vegetarian to cater for. Stuffed mushrooms come in very handy.

I don’t wash prepared, ready to eat salads. I don’t rinse meat etc - my friend does, even if she’s going to make a curry. The meat is usually cooked to hell and back, when making a curry ! I rarely eat apples. Mangos and oranges are my fruits ……yes, I do rinse strawberries under the tap.
I’m with you Serendipity

Yes, MOnica, I understand these poisons are absorbed into the veg and fruits. I keep hoping washing them removes 'the worst'.

MayBee70

It’s worth doing everything to avoid catching some things especially salmonella and E. coli. Which people can catch from lettuce.

That's if prepared salads have been washed in contaminated water.

Buy a proper lettuce, not the pre-washed bagged stuff.

I don’t wash packs of salad leaves if they’ve been pre-washed - isn’t that the point of buying it? I do wash all other fruits and salad stuff though.

This thread has reminded me about the time when, about 10 years ago, DH took me out for lunch and I’d ordered the gammon, which came with salad. Lovely bit of gammon too, though I had only eaten one bite of it before I saw a fat green caterpillar marching across my plate - I kid you not, it must have been the size of my little finger! ? I was absolutely horrified - and refused to eat anymore or to pay for it! DH carried on eating his pie and I had a bag of bacon crisps when we got home!
It put me off salad for months - so much so that I couldn’t even have a salad garnish in a sandwich for fear there was one lurking in there!
I can eat salad now though … but I still check before placing on a plate!

Callistemon21

MayBee70

It’s worth doing everything to avoid catching some things especially salmonella and E. coli. Which people can catch from lettuce.

That's if prepared salads have been washed in contaminated water.

Buy a proper lettuce, not the pre-washed bagged stuff.

That’s what I’ve been doing recently as part of my zero waste policy as I often end up throwing away some of the bagged salad. But I’ve just freaked myself out by reading up on cases of food poisoning from eating Romaine lettuce which is the one I like best.

I wash everything,too. Prewashed or not. It could be ‘washed’ in sewage water for all we know. Also there might be poisonous insecticide or goodness knows what on the stuff.

MayBee70

Callistemon21

MayBee70

It’s worth doing everything to avoid catching some things especially salmonella and E. coli. Which people can catch from lettuce.

That's if prepared salads have been washed in contaminated water.

Buy a proper lettuce, not the pre-washed bagged stuff.

That’s what I’ve been doing recently as part of my zero waste policy as I often end up throwing away some of the bagged salad. But I’ve just freaked myself out by reading up on cases of food poisoning from eating Romaine lettuce which is the one I like best.

Or you could grow your own salad leaves in summer. They're dead easy and you only need to pick what you want and they carry on growing.

And, yes, I wash them.

I’ve never ever washed any fruit or vegetables. I remember pulling out home grown carrots and wiping the soil off on my trousers and eating them , grit and all. I really couldn’t understand all the washing in bleach during lockdown. It seemed like over the top madness to me. Then again, I’ve never been I’ll with anything. I believe that we need to build up natural resistance to bugs, germs and stuff.

MissChateline

I’ve never ever washed any fruit or vegetables. I remember pulling out home grown carrots and wiping the soil off on my trousers and eating them , grit and all. I really couldn’t understand all the washing in bleach during lockdown. It seemed like over the top madness to me. Then again, I’ve never been I’ll with anything. I believe that we need to build up natural resistance to bugs, germs and stuff.

Shame immunity to chemicals doesn't quite work like that!

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I wash lettuce and all veg that I don't peel.

I'm a washer but in plain tap water. I've never used vinegar or bicarb. I do sometimes soak homegrown lettuce in salt water if I see a slug. I rinse it well in fresh water.

I wash anything shop bought that won't be peeled. The only thing I buy in the ready to use bags is water cress and I do wash it even though it says you don't have to.