Do You Really Need To Wash Vegetables?

We all have our own little kitchen secrets, whether it's a special ingredient in a famous recipe, a handful of chocolate chips in our morning oatmeal or how flexible we are with the five-second rule. Some of us (or maybe just Adrienne Maloof from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) clean our chickens with dish soap (though her secret is not so secret anymore).

We home cooks have our own way of doing things, and sometimes we just don't want to share them. There's one kitchen task in particular that varies from cook to cook, and we're asking you to spill the beans with us.

So here it is: fruits and vegetables -- do you wash them or not? It may seem like a silly question. Most of us know that we're supposed to wash our produce, but that rule just isn't completely black and white.

Some of us grew up in households with parents who just didn't rinse their produce (and so washing veggies wasn't an automatic reaction). Others wash their veggies only when visibly dirty, even though we all know that pesticides aren't visible to the naked eye. Some wash their produce only when they remember; and others only if they aren't going to remove the peel.

Then there are those who always, always wash their produce -- sometimes more than once, and sometimes with fancy gadgets, too. There are specialized wash cloths and brushes to make sure that you get your produce really clean. And there's even veggie wash for those who feel like plain ol' water won't do the trick. As we can see, there's a full spectrum of vegetable cleanliness; we want to know, where do you fall on that scale?

According to the FDA, you should wash all produce under running water before you cut, cook or eat it -- regardless of if you buy it at the supermarket, farmers market or grow it in your own backyard. The FDA doesn't recommend using vegetable wash, and suggests that you always wash your produce before cooking or eating, regardless if you plan to peel it or not. Unwashed produce can be contaminated with bacteria, that when consumed can lead to food-borne illness.

So tell us, do you always wash your produce? Answer the poll and elaborate in the comments below!

Quick Poll

Do you always wash your produce before using?

Yes, with veggie wash.

Yep, with water.

Sometimes.

Why bother?

VOTE

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

And since you have produce on the mind, click through the slideshow for ideas on how to use your veggies -- whether you wash them or not.

Comments

[wipokerpro]

06:08 PM on 05/06/2013

Small amount of Non scented Dawn Dish soap(plain) diluted with water in a spray bottle and a soft to medium brush is the best way to wash most veggies and fruits. Rinse well with water. Common sense tells me that we tolerate washing our bodies with all sorts of chemicals to a point. I don't think dawn dish soap (used on our dishes we eat of of) will hurt us. Thin skinned fruits and veggies will have to be rinsed.

[suefrommcmillan]

12:03 PM on 06/26/2012

I keep a spray bottle of vinegar on the kitchen counter all fruits and veggies and sprayed and rinsed with cold water-who knows who has touched and handled them and vinegar kills all kinds of germs

[suefrommcmillan]

12:00 PM on 06/26/2012

Instead of using a veggie wash, I keep a small spray bottle of white vinegar on my kitchen counter, all fruits and veggies and sprayed and then rinsed with cold water. Including bananas, oranges, when I say all I mean all

[Hellova Stoner]

09:37 AM on 05/13/2012

I put my veggies in a sink full of water with a dash of vinegar and let them soak a little, lettuce and spinach I pull apart completely and use a salad spinner to remove excess liquid - most amazing gadget as it helps to keep the lettuce fresher in the fridge. I don't eat crap from the grocery store I grow my own. I don't believe that you can 'wash' pesticides away as I think they 'soak' into the veg anyway.

[ginadeoliveira2008]

06:14 PM on 04/04/2012

I not only wash them with water, I use soap too. Except for leaves, of course. That's how grandma did it, that's how I do it.

[bikefolder32]

10:51 PM on 03/25/2012

I think the article is asking more about whether you have to go the extra step of using scrub brushes and specialized "just for veggies" soaps in order to get the job done. It's a no-brainer that you should at LEAST be rinsing everything under cold water at least once before you chop and serve it.

I think it's a little overboard to use soaps on produce that has an outer layer that you're removing, a rinse under the faucet and a rub-down with a drying cloth or paper towel should be enough for most cases.

Produce that you're consuming whole, like leafy greens, need to be a two-step process. Once to get the big external bits off (dust, clumps of dirt, bugs), and at least a second rinse to get rid of remaining residues.

Beyond that - there's no guarantee you'll get anything as clean as you personally want it to be - and there's a school of thought that says we're leaving ourselves vulnerable to more allergies by scrubbing things so super-clean that even the good bacteria isn't present anymore. You're only guaranteed a stress-free meal if you grow the food yourself and have personal input into what's put on the plants and the cleanliness of the people who pick it out of the field.

[Carol Tolhurst]

10:07 PM on 03/15/2012

Please take care to wash berries thorougly, raspberries, blackberries, lingonberries and strawberries all have nooks and crannies and if they are not organic (wash those also) the pesticides are dfficult to destroy. I'm uneasy about buying dry foods from bins. I've seen some folk not use the scoop and who probably shop outside markets in their contries of origins (and you can't wash dried mangoes) This also happens with unwrapped breads or bread like French or sour dough accessible from open bags.

[Kat Payne]

09:27 AM on 03/16/2012

100% agree with you here. I wash ALL produce, organic or not, before using it. There are way too many chemicals used on our food these days. Also there is the problem with chemicals that have leeched into our soils, water and not to mention what's floating in the air. This makes even organically grown produce susceptible to these as well.

[oceanview136]

07:17 PM on 03/15/2012

I ALWAYS wash my fruits, and vegetables ! You don't have just the pesticides to worry about. What about all the shoppers that are handling them before you buy them ??

[Rubberfish]

07:27 PM on 03/15/2012

Exactly! And it's not just other shoppers that have squeezed those melons before, but also farm- and storeworkers. How many of them wash their hands after using the bathroom?

[lapislazuli241]

06:49 PM on 03/15/2012

i actually wash my fruits and veggies with ivory bar soap and rinse with lots of water...

[Ron Taggart]

06:41 PM on 03/15/2012

I work in the produce dept at the ______-mart...Trust me....Wash that stuff

[lapislazuli241]

06:50 PM on 03/15/2012

absolutely

[Superunknown0208]

06:15 PM on 03/15/2012

People in the supermarket, poking through the apples, possibly didn't wash their hands after they went to the bathroom...I don't know whats worse, that or the bugs and birds that were pooping on the veggies while in the field, and on the truck on the way to that supermarket. Silly headline. Isn't this Simple Simon?

[country girl15]

05:06 PM on 03/15/2012

I have always washed all my fruits and veggies Its just something that comes automatic for me to do.
I also wash my chicken very well but i only use water not soap. I'm not sure i would use the soap method as it doesnt sound like something i would want to try but to each their own i always say.

[lapislazuli241]

06:51 PM on 03/15/2012

not on meat, but ivory bar soap for veggie rinds and fruit rinds.......

[country girl15]

07:24 AM on 03/16/2012

lapislazuli241
Never tryed that either.But thanks for the advice and info. Have a great day!

[krktoday]

04:56 PM on 03/15/2012

even though I know pesticides are water proof or the rain would wash them away I still rinse my apples and tomatoes. Lettuce I tear off the first couple of layer's. That is pretty much all the veggies I eat except for onions and what self respecting bug would eat a onion.

[lapislazuli241]

06:53 PM on 03/15/2012

you need to wash all of your fruits and veggies... there are various germs on them from various fingers handling them...... you can get all sorts of diseases that way... wash them!!

[Rubberfish]

07:29 PM on 03/15/2012

But how do you wash an onion?

[Hellova Stoner]

09:39 AM on 05/13/2012

It isn't just the bugs, it is the dirt that it is grown in, often manure etc. You just need to make sure all traces of dirt etc are removed.

[kranmar]

04:47 PM on 03/15/2012

"Poppie maka you especial a pizza."

[mail4warding]

05:29 PM on 03/15/2012

datsa right... washa dee hands, more important dan washin duh veggies LOL!

[Blonde4eva7]

04:30 PM on 03/15/2012

Since I always do, my mom always does, etc. I just thought everyone does. We all know that fruits and veggies need to be washed. Wonder why this is even an article? Makes me scared for the people who don't do it.