Do You Wash Fruit?

boxtops | 18:04 Thu 24th Apr 2014 | Food & Drink

104 Answers

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?

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Mojo-Jo-Jo

My stance isn't blanket Naomi, far from it.
I believe if we thought about it less, we'd be less damaged by it, and I hold that belief.
Night x

boxtops

Question Author

Night all - and thanks for an interesting discussion!

sunny-dave

I might give soft fruit a quick rinse - but actually I'm far more worried about pesticide than *** ...

phleb

I just rinse my apples pears plums etc, but not all the time.

solvitquick

I do not adhere to the 6 (or isn't it now 10) per day:). Hence I eat little fruit but wash all fruit and veg before eating, unlike the wife who is a bit of a kitchen *** in secret. So my diet is mixed: part washed & part "unclean" but I don't care.
Why wash? Pesticides! We were once warned to wash fruit/veg using Washing-up Liquid! as the the pesticides etc were wax-coated in.
Moving on..
Low to moderate exposure to germs and viruses is a good thing. It is not about "toning up" the immune system, the immune defence REQUIRES such exposure in order to learn about the environment in which we live and act when required. It's the basis of man-made immunisation/vaccination which only mimics nature.
That does not mean exposure to any type of dirt is good - dog and bird poo are bad.
As regards hospital infections, I believe these are mainly caused by visitors who in toto shed skin cells by the milligrams if not grams in a day. There is much ado about cleaning in hospitals but what needs cleaning away? Dust or if accumulated, dirt. This is mainly composed of dead skin cells but the same detritus still harbours staph and other bacteria. Visitors do not know what elbow-taps are for - elbows, not hands!
SIQ.

-- answer removed --

naomi24

//As regards hospital infections, I believe these are mainly caused by visitors who in toto shed skin cells by the milligrams if not grams in a day.//

I dispute the claim that visitors are responsible for the high incidence of hospital acquired infections. That’s a convenient excuse. Figures for private hospitals are far lower than those for NHS hospitals – but I doubt the visitors to private hospitals are any cleaner. Poor hygiene is the cause – nothing else.

solvitquick

Fair comment, Naomi.
Visitors as a major contributor to hospital infections are just my opinion. I think logic supports me but I have no evidence in terms of control study to offer. Indeed I have never heard of anyone postulate my pet theory.
Your comment happily accepted as part of the general belief, with which I have no probs, only the origin of the dirt that needs cleaning.
SIQ.

mccfluff

i eat loads of fruit and veg and don't wash any off it - well maybe give potatoes a scrub

and i'll eat food i've dropped on the floor

i'm just a rebel like that....

sunny-dave

Ah the crucial thing, fluff, is that "time to become inedible once dropped on the floor" varies according to the foodstuff.

A brussel sprout is fatally contaminated after 2 microseconds, mushrooms even quicker - whereas chocolate can be safely consumed some weeks after hitting the carpet :)