Do You Wash Fruit?

[boxtops]

A visitor told me the other day that she'd always been told to wash fruit in hot water, to remove germs. Hot water would surely affect the fruit, I'd never heard of that before.

I never wash fruit, unless it's visibly grubby. IMO, we are far too "protected" from a few germs these days, my grandma used to say that you have to eat four pounds of dirt in your lifetime (but preferably not all at once).

What (if anything) do you do?

[tamborine]

Bananas are kept in carrier bag so spiders/bugs are asphyxiated & cant run amok

[Canary42]

It's not the dirt which worries me, it's the masses of carcinogenic chemicals used in food cultivation/preparation/preservation today, so a thorough wash before eating every time (unless peeled. like say, bananas or oranges)

[tiggerblue10]

I immerse soft fruit in water for a few seconds to get any bits of soil off and just give other fruit a quick rinse.

A guy I used to work with said that used a bicarb and water solution to rinse soft fruits.

[Fusion5]

I always wash fruit. They have all been handled by the staff filling the shelves up and what's to say they have never washed their hands after the toilet.

[naomi24]

Boxy, // infection control in a vulnerable healthcare setting is, IMO, quite different to my domestic kitchen.//

I beg to differ. I simply don’t believe that upon entering the workplace people who are happy with poor standards of cleanliness for themselves suddenly acquire good standards for other people. That simply doesn’t gel.

Incidentally, NHS guidelines recommend washing all fruit and vegetables.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/How-to-wash-fruit-and-vegetables.aspx

[boxtops]

Interesting link, naomi, thanks. Not washing fruit doesn't appear to have done me any harm thus far :-)

[naomi24]

How can you be sure?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

I have a deep aversion to anti-bac and will give anything a cursory rinse if it's been on the floor.
Have you noticed how the rise in peanut allergies seemed to coincide with the advice not to give peanuts to under fives, as they were assessed as a choking hazard?
People need exposure to bacteria in order to create antibodies to fight them.
I recommend anyone who disagrees to at least read War of the Worlds.

[naomi24]

I've read it - and I still wash fruit.

[boxtops]

I can't be sure, naomi, but I refuse to spend my life being frightened of possibilities.

[douglas9401]

A brisk rub on the semmit and away we go.

[DTCwordfan]

Most times a wash here - if raspberries out of the garden then no.......

[boxtops]

.. and I can't argue with your point about domestic -v- workplace standards of cleanliness, naomi. I've never been a domestic goddess, and (thankfully, you might say) I'm not involved in direct patient care.

[boxtops]

You can sieve the fruit through the simmet, too, douglas, or so I'm told....?

[Ken4155]

It would appear from your replies that many of you have never eaten an apple straight from the tree, or eaten as many strawberries and blackberries as you put in your baskets, without a thought to what's been crawling on them. Washing fruit! You'll all be getting out of the bath for a pee, next.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

I do have credentials for this question, having been in a position to be rightly terrified of all things that were likely to kill me, however I heold by my firm belief that bacteria is necessary for your immune system.
I feel sorry for those multi-intolerant children who have to be protected from everything. Drop them in a well used mud puddle I say and don't let them in until they're dry

[naomi24]

Boxy, The possibilities of the results of poor hygiene in the health service have proven to be all too real for me - hence my astonishment at your apparent ignorance. And there you are advising other people!

[ethandron]

I wouldn't say that not washing fruit shows a poor standard of cleanliness, it's just something we do or don't do.
I'm pretty sure the way we all behave in our own kitchens wouldn't be acceptable in a 'professional' kitchen setting but it suits us at home and I imagine there are a lot of people who work very hygienicly (is that a word?) in their job without following 'health and safety' guidelines at home.

[DTCwordfan]

I usually wash my peas, Ken; after all these folk in a Great Yarmouth Birds Eye plant, you son't know where they have been.

[douglas9401]

You can indeed boxtops. You just have to give it a few brisk skelps off the bedroom door to get it wearable next day though.