Do You Need to Use a Fruit and Vegetable Wash?
We all know it’s important to take proper precautions when handling meat to prevent spreading bacteria, but it’s equally as important to wash your fruits and veggies. The best way to wash fruits and vegetables? Plain old tap water. That’s right, the FDA says it’s OK to simply wash your produce with water. “Running water is just as effective as any veggie washes or vinegar solutions,” says Shelley Feist, former executive director of the Partnership for Food Safety Education. The key there is running water (more on this below) and not using any soaps or non-food-safe cleaners. A couple of produce-cleaning tips and reminders Feist does want you to remember:
What Is Fruit and Veggie Wash, Anyway?
What’s in purchased fruit and vegetable wash depends on the brand, but common ingredients include a combination of water, vinegar, baking soda, glycerin (a natural compound from vegetable oils), and citrus oils. There are also several DIY fruit wash recipes on the web, with one of the most common being a mixture of water and distilled vinegar. So while Feist says using fruit and vegetable spray is “certainly not harmful,” there is no scientific evidence to show that it does a better job removing bacteria or contaminants. And to make sure you’re preventing any food waste, be sure to store your fruits and veggies in the proper place so they’ll last as long as possible.
