Whether it’s from a home garden or your local farmers market, a good rinse with clean water should always be your last step before getting a taste of your new crop.
It’s summertime, which means some of the tastiest fruits and vegetables the D.C. area has to offer are in peak season. But just because something’s homegrown doesn’t mean it’s risk free.
Whether it’s from a home garden or your local farmers market, a good rinse with clean water should always be your last step before getting a taste of your new crop.
Grace Stern is state coordinator of the Extension Master Gardener Program, in Virginia Tech’s School of Plant and Environmental Sciences. She says washing produce not only removes dirt and grime, but it cleans away germs and bacteria left on the skin of products.
“That can be germs from whoever picked it. And that can be germs from the animals in your garden. It can be feces, poop, from whatever gets in there,” Stern said. “And then there are lots of other things that live in the soil that can make us sick too.”
Consumers are sometimes more concerned with the removal of pesticides from their produce than anything else, according to Stern. Because of that, people will buy organic and then assume they don’t need to wash those items, something she says is a common misconception.
“Things like listeria and salmonella are what make us really sick, but a lot of times recalls in produce are not normally pesticide residue related,” Stern said. “I’d say probably the majority of the time it’s foodborne pathogen related.”
When it comes to washing, make sure your hands and any tools such as scissors or pruners are clean. Stern recommends using clean, running water to rinse or dunk your produce. You should never soak your fruits and vegetables or use chemicals like bleach or vinegar due to the porous nature of most produce.
For thick-skinned produce like cucumbers, pumpkins, potatoes, winter squash or radishes — you can scrub using a produce brush under clean running water. For more delicate produce such as berries, grapes and greens, Stern says your hands work just fine.
“I put the colander on one side of my sink, and on the other side of the sink, I take the amount of berries that I’m going to use that day, and just kind of gently wipe it down with my fingers and thumbs between my hands under clean running water,” Stern said. “And so I give everything a little gentle wash without soap, and then I put those in the colander, and then I give everything another rinse again after the end.”
Once you’re done washing, make sure to pat dry your produce with a clean towel. You’ll want to make sure everything is clean and dry before cutting or processing your food as breaking the skin to your fruits and vegetables will expose the flesh to any germs or bacteria on the surface.
For those with gardens at home, there are things you can do to mitigate germ exposure before you even pick your produce. Stern recommends putting a fence or netting up around your plants to keep pets and wildlife out. She also says it’s important to remember to water your garden with clean water.
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