Poll: Do You Wash Fruit Before Eating It?

Do You Wash Fruit Before Eating It?

July 27, 2009

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24 Comments

3 years 28 weeks

i agree with Spectra. the ''washing'' that most people do really has no effect. If running it under water for a half second really did get ALL the germs some people are freaked about off, they wouldnt be on there anyways. For instance, apples, i am in italy atm, and i didnt wash my apple, so my host dad asks me in in italian, you dont wash the apple before eating it? i was like, well, no. And he goes on a small episode about how animals and pesticides can infect the thing. i was like yea. and kept eating my apple. But i was thinking, you just pulled this out of the refridgerator, if the germs can be gotten off by the quick rinse you just did, they would have been killed by the coldness of the refridgerator first. calm down. plus, im lazy, and justify it by thinking, ''well i do this so i dont get sick so much, and its worked so far!'' but really i do it more because i think its useless, im lazy, and i hate doing things everyone else deems neccessary, that are actually far from it. So i guess that goes back to useless.

PinkNC 3 years 40 weeks

Yes. I think washing is a must.

fashionista119 3 years 41 weeks

Yes. Always. I buy mostly organic, so I'm not so worried about pesticides, but I'm totally skeeved by all the hands that have touched the fruit. I wash everything with Environne Fruit & Veg Wash. I even wash things that I peel or cut into (like melon) cause when you slice through, bacteria can be transferred from the knife to the fruit. I know it's a little obsessive, but that's just me.

Soniabonya 3 years 42 weeks

I give the fruits a quick rinse because I don't know where the heck the darn thing has been or who it was handled by. Rinsing it just gives me a peace of mind :)

ilanac13 3 years 43 weeks

yes - i wash just about everything before i eat it - unless you're supossed to peel it before eating - and then it's kind of a moot point.

muse2323 3 years 43 weeks

I wash (rinse) fruit and veggies--although it took me a while to convince my hubby to do the same. (I think I read him a story from a blog about a shopper observing a 2-yr-old sneezing (snotty sneezes) all over the grapes display.)

rachelsmith 3 years 43 weeks

I'm such a non-germaphobe, it's not funny. I'd lick the floor without being grossed out too much, but I would NEVER eat a cantaloupe (they have tons of salmonella etc.) without washing it. I believe in a healthy dose of germs, avoiding antibacterials and such, but I'm not cool with eating pesticides. You know, since they're designed to be poisons and all?

Spectra 3 years 43 weeks

Germs do not bother me much. I have a healthy gut flora and if you do, you don't really have to worry about things infecting you. I'm slightly more worried about pesticides, but even if you wash them off, some will still be on there. It's not like they spray fruit just before it's picked or anything. For everyone that rinses fruit off and rubs it to get the "nasty" germs off of it...you're sort of wasting your time. All you're doing is rearranging the germs. If you want to kill the germs, soak the fruit in a weak solution of bleach for at least 30 seconds, then rinse it about 10 times to get the bleach off. Most of you that wash the germs off of your fruit are eating the germs anyway. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's just kind of how it is.

PrincessLtrain 3 years 43 weeks

PS: Yum, I'm totally with you! If I forget to wash it while I'm the kitchen it's highly unlikely, especially if it's an apple (don't ask why...)

PrincessLtrain 3 years 43 weeks

I always wash my fruit, but I'm far more lazy when it comes to greens like lettuce, herbs, etc. They just take so long to dry. I'll spend more on the pre-packaged, pre-washed stuff.

Kimpossible 3 years 43 weeks

only with fruit that has edible skin.

POPSUGAR Food 3 years 43 weeks

Weffie -- Ew! That said, although I wash fruit when I eat it at home, sometimes when I'm at work I'm just too lazy to make the trek to the kitchen, which feels like it's in a faraway land...

weffie 3 years 43 weeks

it's the hands i'm worried about too, but more so the hands of whoever picked the fruits... on my friend's berry farm they have no bathrooms for the workers that spend all day in the fields, it's icky!

bluebellknoll 3 years 43 weeks

I've never washed a banana before eating it, either. Everything else - yes.

khameel 3 years 43 weeks

I wash everything, except for bananas.

samantha999 3 years 43 weeks

I just get skeezed by watching people handle fruit and veg, put up to their nose, sniff it, squeeze it and then put it back. Hubby thinks i am weird when I ask him to reach for the ones in the back out of reach. Besides do you think anyone washes it once it's been picked?

chancleta 3 years 43 weeks

I'm with you Sam!

Gdeeaz 3 years 43 weeks

i wash most fruit

chancleta 3 years 43 weeks

Yes totally! You never know who or were your fruit has been before you touched it.

mamasitamalita 3 years 43 weeks

apples, berries, yes.... bananas, mangoes, etc. no

simplyfab87 3 years 43 weeks

If I'm going to eat the skin, yes. If I'm just going to peel it off, no.

victork 3 years 43 weeks

For the most part, I only wash soft fruits, like strawberries. It's more that I'm lazy, rather than having some deeper reason, like believing I'm boosting my immune system by exposing myself to unclean fruit. This habit is yet to have done noticeable harm so far, so I'm not worried.

samantha999 3 years 43 weeks

it's not the pesticides that worry me it's all the hands that have touched it and what might have crawled across it in the store.

akapluto 3 years 43 weeks

what does WASH mean really? i'll give an apple a quick rinse, maybe a hard wipe against my tshirt... but i'm not really worried about pesticides or bacteria and i can't tell you why.

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