Do you wash your vegetables?

softmee

I am wondering what most of the people do before they eat any vegetables.. Carrots, potatoes you cook, so no problem, but what about lettuce and cucumber?
Lethal bacteria was found on vegetables in Germany -few people died and many was hospitalised..

http://www.euronews.net/2011/05/26/raw-vegetables-suspected-for-german-ecoli-scare/

This is scary when you think about death from cucumber.. :eek:
This bacteria dies in 60 celsius, so it wont work for lettuce, to wash it in such hot water, you could rinse tomatoes in boling water..but what you can do with lettuce?
I never eat salads in restaurants, because i used to work in few and i know how they wash lettuce... and if they get "washed" lettuce you can often find a snale or other surpises on it..
So, do you wash fruit/veg before you eat?

Biggins

Of course. Not to do so would be silly.

Fago!

For a second I thought this was going to be a thread about cleaning your genitals.

DrumSteve

Always have a gentlemans wash beforehand

Azureus

My mammy always gave out to me for not washing veg-I do sometimes, dont others.
Prob be a little more careful after hearing about all the deaths from that e.coli in future.

Although RTE news online had the best headline for that new story-something along the lines of 'KILLER CUCUMBER CLAIMS MORE VICTIMS!'.

Crasp

always, smegma is an awful entity.

hondasam

yes it only takes a few minutes to wash them.

starbelgrade

I grow a lot of my own vegetables. The ground they're grown in is mixed with chicken **** over the winter, then composted using rotted vegetable & plant matter that's chucked from kitchen waste onto the compost heap.

So, yep - I wash my vegetables.

Phill Ewinn

Always rince in boiling water. can't believe people don't do this. Durty !

jimthemental

starbelgrade wrote: »

I grow a lot of my own vegetables. The ground they're grown in is mixed with chicken **** over the winter, then composted using rotted vegetable & plant matter that's chucked from kitchen waste onto the compost heap.

So, yep - I wash my vegetables.

That's not too bad. Fairly sure one of my neighbors makes his own compost. The septic tank overflows across into the vegetable plot every now and again.

softmee

Ok, but what about lettuce? Cold water wont kill possible bacteria on it and hot will ruin it..

rainbowdrop

Phill Ewinn wrote: »

Always rince in boiling water. can't believe people don't do this. Durty !

Even cucumber's?

I would always wash vegetables, but only in tepid water. Would always wash lettuce, but would never think to wash cucumber or tomatoes........

jimthemental

softmee wrote: »

Ok, but what about lettuce? Cold water wont kill possible bacteria on it and hot will ruin it..

Cook it in dettol.

ejmaztec

Fago! wrote: »

For a second I thought this was going to be a thread about cleaning your genitals.

No, there was no mention of meat, and it didn't specify a maximum of 2 veg.

rcdk1

softmee wrote: »

Ok, but what about lettuce? Cold water wont kill possible bacteria on it and hot will ruin it..

Wash it in a mild Milton solution and rinse thoroughly

softmee

I thought about Milton, you can sanitize bottles for babies with it and water for driniking, so maybe you could also use small amount disosolved in water to wash lettuce?

Phill Ewinn

rainbowdrop wrote: »

Even cucumber's?

I would always wash vegetables, but only in tepid water. Would always wash lettuce, but would never think to wash cucumber or tomatoes........

Even cucumbers! Esp tomatos. Takes seconds, saves hours of diahorrea. Not into lettuce, the stuff in the bags is filled with nitrogen, not air. I expect most creatures would be dead after the bag is sealed.

dpe

Bagged lettuce is usually washed, so not a problem. Everything else; unless you're peeling it, wash it.

_feedback_

softmee wrote: »

Ok, but what about lettuce? Cold water wont kill possible bacteria on it and hot will ruin it..

I'd run lettuce under the tap to get the big lumps of dirt off it, rather than attempting to kill the lettuce monsters that may eat me from the inside out.

tjones64

nope

I wash them with cold water with the tap on high so that there's a bit of power behind it. Sure lettuce and apples are the only thing I eat that isn't either cooked or peeled, and I give them a bit of extra time washing anyway, anything more is just being over cautious.

I'd be more careful with stuff from the garden, as I'm one of those people who is actually more wary of organic rather than the other way round, because of pests and bacteria. No point in spending your life being scared that there might just happen to be a strong strain of E.coli on German veg. Pretty sure that German veg was organic.

Uncle Mclovin

I don't wash mushrooms. My mother always told me you weren't meant to.

Come to think of it I never wash cucumber when ever I eat it. Quite worrying really.

artanevilla

No, the wheels get rusty.

Mint Sauce

Anything that does not require peeling, either before or after cooking, yes.

_feedback_

dpe wrote: »

Bagged lettuce is usually washed, so not a problem. Everything else; unless you're peeling it, wash it.

My GF found a slug in her bagged lettuce from Tesco last week. You're definately better off washing them.

How can someone eat mushrooms unwashed? What about the massive pieces of dirt/muck/shít stuck to them?

ISDW

dpe wrote: »

Bagged lettuce is usually washed, so not a problem. Everything else; unless you're peeling it, wash it.

But what is it washed in? Lots of chemicals, so I don't buy salads that are ready to eat, and I always wash everything else. Cucumber though, I rinse it before cutting, but obviously that isn't cleaning the inside of it, only the skin.

Animord

Wash everything! Especially the bagged 'prewashed' stuff. I got Salmonella poisoning from prewashed salad.

And read stuff about where your food comes from - all that cheap Spanish salad that we get in this part of the world - it comes from huge 'farms' where there is no sanitation for the workers, they are uneducated, poorly paid and treated like slaves. You might not necesarily care about that, but the fact that they are peeing and worse on food you put directly in your month without washing is just disgusting.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/07/spain-salad-growers-slaves-charities

moonflower

I never wash mushrooms, it makes them go slimy. Just give them a wipe to get any dirt off.

Other than that I give everything a quick rinse.

parker kent

softmee wrote: »

Ok, but what about lettuce? Cold water wont kill possible bacteria on it and hot will ruin it..

Buy a salad spinner and wash them in cold water.

BluesBerry

Animord wrote: »

Wash everything! Especially the bagged 'prewashed' stuff. I got Salmonella poisoning from prewashed salad.

And read stuff about where your food comes from - all that cheap Spanish salad that we get in this part of the world - it comes from huge 'farms' where there is no sanitation for the workers, they are uneducated, poorly paid and treated like slaves. You might not necesarily care about that, but the fact that they are peeing and worse on food you put directly in your month without washing is just disgusting.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/07/spain-salad-growers-slaves-charities

I am NEVER eating any salads ever again :eek:

Duggy747

Place I used to work in used to sell lettuce with spiders all over them. The banana boxes especially would have the most disgusting, monster-sized spiders in them......eurgh!!

So yea, I'm quite thorough with washing veggies.

Kevin Duffy

I don eat forrdin much like Spanish cucumbers, so I avoid these problems. I stick to safe, traditional Irish foods, such as curry, chinese or fish and chips.

But really, yes, of course, madness not to.

Kojak

I grow most of my own - they are usually covered in soil, so yeah I wash them before I eat them.

jester77

Cucumbers are nasty.... real nasty. Don't know how people can eat those vile things. I'm so happy at the moment. For the first time ever, yesterday I was able to order a Döner and order it with everything. Didn't have to tell to leave off the cucumber as there were none And even when I do, there always seems to be a stray piece of the nasty things that end up in the kebab totally destroying that yummy greasy fatty kebab taste :mad:

skywalker_208

I always wash everything. You never know what chemicals are used to wash veg or where they are stored!

starbelgrade

true-or-false wrote: »

I'd be more careful with stuff from the garden, as I'm one of those people who is actually more wary of organic rather than the other way round, because of pests and bacteria.

That's a bit silly, in fairness. If you grow your own, you know exactly what was used to grow it & if it's washed & cooked, or even just properly washed, it's a lot better for you than the stuff you buy in supermarkets that has been sprayed with tonnes of unessecary chemicals.

Crasp

starbelgrade wrote: »

That's a bit silly, in fairness. If you grow your own, you know exactly what was used to grow it & if it's washed & cooked, or even just properly washed, it's a lot better for you than the stuff you buy in supermarkets that has been sprayed with tonnes of unessecary chemicals.

But do know what's in your soil though?? Arsenic, Cadmium, etc?

starbelgrade

starbelgrade wrote: »

That's a bit silly, in fairness. If you grow your own, you know exactly what was used to grow it & if it's washed & cooked, or even just properly washed, it's a lot better for you than the stuff you buy in supermarkets that has been sprayed with tonnes of unessecary chemicals.

I do know exactly what was used to grow it and I also know that there are many stray cats in the area that need to pee somewhere.

I also know that my garden is frequented by birds, who need to poo somewhere, and who don't tend to go over to a corner to do it.

I also know that my bayleaf plant has some sort of scale insect infection, which means I have to wash my bayleaf far more thoroughly than I would have to a supermarket bought leaf, which I worry will decrease it's flavour. A supermarket bought, chemical ridden leaf doesn't need to be washed as it's being cooked, whereas a pest ridden leaf isn't going to become pestless through cooking.

The supermarket veg may be sprayed by unnecessary chemicals, but if you can prove why they're unnecessary and that they've ever made me sick, let me know. The word chemical has a bad rep. You've got to prove that the chemicals are harmful before you use the word in a negative sense.

Edit: Also forgot to mention the amount of hassle white butterflies and their offspring cause my cabbages.

Apanachi

Animord wrote: »

all that cheap Spanish salad that we get in this part of the world - it comes from huge 'farms' where there is no sanitation for the workers

Although the "killer cucumbers" aren't from Spain as the Germans thought, they were very quick to point the finger and wash (excuse the pun) their hands of the blame, turns out they were wrong....

softmee

parker kent wrote: »

Buy a salad spinner and wash them in cold water.

I do have a salad spinner, but as i said E.Coli dies in 60 C, so.. :rolleyes: Oh and i've seen picture somewhere of bag of tesco's "washed" salad bag with frog in it.. :pac:

http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/2007/12/hop-to-it-1.html

Jesus Wept

Geez, sounds like a pain in the hole.
Also, washing? What are you considering washing? Putting something in water isn't really washing it very well.

jmayo

Uncle Mclovin wrote: »

I don't wash mushrooms. My mother always told me you weren't meant to.

Come to think of it I never wash cucumber when ever I eat it. Quite worrying really.

You do know what mushrooms grow in ?

jester77 wrote: »

Cucumbers are nasty.... real nasty. Don't know how people can eat those vile things. ...

For some bloody reason they are always stuck into salads and sandwiches just to give a days indigestion.
That puts me off plus being told by a girl she once used one to pleasure herself.

Apanachi wrote: »

Although the "killer cucumbers" aren't from Spain as the Germans thought, they were very quick to point the finger and wash (excuse the pun) their hands of the blame, turns out they were wrong....

So where are they from ?

softmee wrote: »

I do have a salad spinner, but as i said E.Coli dies in 60 C, so.. :rolleyes: Oh and i've seen picture somewhere of bag of tesco's "washed" salad bag with frog in it.. :pac:

http://www.fwi.co.uk/blogs/rural-life/2007/12/hop-to-it-1.html

That was probably destined for the French market.

pragmatic1

If your veg is crawling with e.coli just washing them isnt going to do much.

livinsane

Never wash veg. I credit eating bits of dirt for my amazing immune system.

Apanachi

jmayo wrote: »

So where are they from ?

That's the problem, they don't know, they very were quick to blame Spain, but have now eliminated the Spanish cucumbers as being the source

Show Time

I always wash my nuts.

storm2811

jmayo wrote: »

You do know what mushrooms grow in ?

Soil?

gargleblaster

You don't really need to sterilize the food before you eat it. The goal where bacteria are concerned is to remove enough of the bacteria that your digestive system can deal with the rest. Not sure about parasites though.

I use a scrubber on apples, discard the outermost leaves on lettuce, peel carrots, etc.