When it comes to kitchen prep, everyone worries about whether or not the food they're serving is really, really clean.When it comes to produce, it can be a little intimidating. We don't know where our food has been, after all, and we don't know what it's been through before we pick it up in the grocery store or off the stall at the farmers' market. Let's look at everything you need to know about washing your produce, no matter where it came from, and some ways to help you make sure you're keeping your family safe.
What, exactly, are you washing off and how much of it is there?
Ever grabbed an apple for a quick snack without washing it? Everyone has — everyone who likes apples, at least. It probably tasted fine, too, so why do we have to wash all of our favorite fruits and veggies?
Every year, the Environmental Working Group releases a pair of lists compiled with data from the FDA and the USDA. The Dirty Dozen is a list of the fruits and vegetables that were found to have the highest concentrations of pesticide residues still on them, and EWG notes that across the thousands of samples tested, some still tested positive for pesticides after they were washed and even peeled. Some — like strawberries, apples, and peaches — had pesticide residue on up to 98 percent of the samples tested. Even more shocking are the findings that hot peppers and leafy greens all contained samples that were tainted with insecticides not just dangerous for pests, but to humans, too. They're not on the Dirty Dozen, so even produce that's not on the list can still contain dangerous chemicals.
That means even the cleanest types of fruits and vegetables still contained some types of pesticides. And that's why washing all produce — no matter which list it's on — is important.
Clean your work surface first
It's incredibly easy to overlook, and according to the guidelines from The University of Maine, you should always give your work area a quick once-over at a particular point in the prep process. They recommend making sure you wash your work surface completely between peeling off any outer skins and cutting or slicing up the veggies into their final form, an easy step to skip that can lead to the transfer of bacteria.
While you probably keep your utensils, knives and peelers all clean, you should also know that slicing through fruits and veg can transfer bacteria from the skin into the meat of the fruit. The best way to prep not just your cutting board but your counter, too, is to wash the entire area with hot water and soap before you start cutting. (Cleaning your work area also includes washing your hands, first, for at least 20 seconds with warm water and soap!)
Why you should wait to wash
Washing your fruits and veggies is all done to stop the spread of bacteria and to get rid of any unwanted residue that's left behind from the growing process, so there's probably a certain school of thought that says you don't want any of that dirt or bacteria in your fridge, either. But if you're tempted to wash your produce right when you get it home, you should wait.
Washing your produce before storing it can actually do more harm than good, and not only is the dampness going to create the perfect environment for bacteria to grow, but it's also going to speed up the process in which your food goes bad. In most cases, fruits and vegetables have been prepped for grocery store or farmer's' market presentation, and that means they're free of the majority of the dirt and have at least been given a cursory wash. That all means that in order to keep your produce at its freshest for the longest amount of time, you should wait until right before you're going to use it to wash it. If you absolutely can't bear to put away dirty produce, dry it thoroughly before putting it away — but remember that you can only get produce so dry.
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