Importance Of Washing Fruits And Vegetables

The importance of washing fruits and vegetables is a top priority before you start cooking or eating right away. Raw fruits and vegetables contain harmful germs that can make you sick, such as pesticides, dirt, salmonella, E. coli and listeria. Surprisingly many people do not wash their produce.

This is unfortunate. Most of the recipes I share repeat the habit to wash your produce before consuming. You may think, why wash fruits and vegetables when I picked them up from the grocery store? Or perhaps from your garden? There are several reasons why you must wash the produce.

Aside from the fact that you can get sick from eating food that is not washed, there are other reasons as well. The following are four reasons as to why you need to wash fruits and vegetables every time before going to eat them.

What Is The Importance Of Washing Fruits And Vegetables?

1. Remove bacteria
2. Remove dirt
3. Hands touching everything
4. Energy

1. Remove Bacteria

The importance of washing fruits and vegetables can save your life. Any bacteria on the vegetables and fruits are taken off when we wash them with running water. Just having produce sitting out there on the stand in the grocery store for someone to come and pick up can take up to hours or days. 

Raw fruits and vegetable have harmful germs that can get you sick. These germs are pesticides, dirt, salmonella, E. coli and listeria. Washing your vegetables also helps prevent norovirus.

You need to wash this off so that you do not ingest it or have someone you care for eat it without the dirt removed. The vegetables can be on the stands for a long time before someone comes along to pick them up. In that time the fruits and vegetables are also collecting things in their environment.

Should I Wash Fruits With An Inedible Peel?

Yes! Even though you are not eating the peel, that still contains dirt and toxins on it. Just rinse them with a little water, then peel them. For example: oranges and grapefruits can be cleaned before peeling. Afterwards, wash them again, unless the fruit is a banana. 

2. Remove Dirt

Several vegetables have a lot of dirt on them. You have to wash some of them thoroughly to remove the dirt. Vegetables like spinach, celery, leeks and carrots are most frequently dirty and oftentimes it is visible. Therefore it needs to be washed. The last thing you want is to eat a meal with dirt and sand inside and then damage a tooth. Lettuce often has dirt on it. It does not matter if they have it wrapped in a nice plastic bag. Who knows how clean that bag is? Therefore it is better to wash the lettuce.

3. Hands Touching Everything

How many times did someone touch those red bell peppers before you came long and picked them up? At least a few hands have touched them. Who knows where people’s hands have been.

There have been times at the grocery store where corn is sitting in several boxes. People are gathered around picking up corn and many of them are being thrown back in the box for someone else to pick up. There is no way I am going to take that corn home and not wash it. 

You will be surprised how many people touched those vegetables before you bought them and took them home. Better to wash them before finding out where all those hands have been and when they last washed them. 

Even though items like strawberries are in containers as well as blueberries, they need to be cleaned as well. Someone had to put the strawberries in those containers.

The same applies with fruits like oranges and anything with a peel. Peel it off first and then wash it again with water. Some people just wash the surface of the fruit, then peel it and do not wash it again. Do not assume because it has skin to it that by removing it now it is suddenly clean. Still wash it for good measure.

4. Energy

We are all energy and the importance of washing fruits and vegetables prevents of from removing what is not ours. What we touch, what we pass by, whether we can see it or not, has an effect on us. Clean off any unwanted energy that was put on the fruits and vegetables before you eat it.

This is so that it is in its cleanest and purest form before it enters your body. You want to receive the highest energy from the foods you eat. Therefore cleaning it with water will remove anything unpleasant that may have stuck on to that item before you bought it. If you picked it up from your garden, still wash it. Clean it off before eating it or sharing it with others.

Summary — The Importance Of Washing Fruits and Vegetables

The importance of washing fruits and vegetables are vital for our overall health. What we purchase is dirty, even though you may not be able to detect it. Therefore, make it a habit to wash all of your fruits and vegetables to ensure that the food you are consuming is clean and will not make you sick. 

Do this every single time you are going to eat your food, especially if you plan to serve it to others. Although when you practice doing it for yourself will automatically make you do it for others.

Hopefully this information encourages you to see the importance of washing fruits and vegetables every time before you plan to eat them. Enjoy making delicious fresh foods.

My Authentic Homemade Vegetarian Cookbook is available to buy on Amazon. It is a great investment for your future. 

Thank you for your support. 

Authentic Homemade Vegetarian Cookbook

*Original post published on February 10, 2022 on mcintehouse.com**

**Newly updated version of August 14, 2023**