With summer upon us, now is the perfect time for some fresh fruit or a quick salad. It is, however, important that you wash your healthy ingredients properly before you tuck into your meal.
Washing salads, vegetables and fruit before eating means you will rid the food of any pesticides used in growing, as well as dirt and bugs. This preparation also gives you the best chance of ensuring your food is bacteria-free.
Although the best care has been taken to avoid bacteria, contamination can happen at any stage in the process, so it’s super important you wash fruit, veg and salad before eating.
Just recently, E.coli has been traced to lettuce used in supermarket sandwiches, resulting in the death of one person in the UK.
Experts have shared their top food preparation tips with Metro.co.uk, to help keep you and your loved ones safe this summer.
Preparation
Before you start, make sure there’s as little chance as possible of contaminating the food yourself. Wash your hands with soap and then clean down all surfaces and your sink.
You should always have a separate chopping board for fruit and vegetables and raw meat, to prevent cross-contamination.
Next, make sure your food is still okay to eat. ‘You must not eat food after midnight on the day of its use-by date, as per the Food Standards Agency guidelines. This applies to all products, including bagged lettuce and salad,’ says Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Pharmacy.
Washing salad and leafy vegetables
First, chop the product and throw out any pieces that are brown, bruised or otherwise don’t look good. Remove the outer leaves and separate the inner ones.
Dr Lee then advises you hold it under cold running water for around 30 seconds. ‘This is better than soaking them in a bowl of water where any bacteria are trapped in the bowl’ she explains.
It’s also best to use a salad spinner if you have one. ‘The centripetal force removes water and dirt from the leaves. This is important because it also dries the leaves,’ she adds.
Experts also suggest that you wash bagged salad, even though most have already been washed before they reach the shelves.
Washing Fruit and Veg
Root vegetables and fruit are best washed before preparing them, as many can have dirt on them still and it will be harder to get from skins once cut.
‘The skin is high in fibre and an important part of the diet, so it’s better for your health to clean it thoroughly and eat it, then cut it off and discard it,’ says Dr Lee.
For root vegetables and harder fruit like apples, run them under a tap and give the skin a good brush to release the dirt.
Softer fruit will benefit more from being soaked in a basin of cold water, swished about gently, then strained under slow-running water using a colander.
Bicarb or not to bicarb?
While Dr Lee thinks there is ‘no benefit’ to washing produce in bicarbonate of soda, chef and nutritionist Lisa Marley recommends it.
‘Washing with water alone can help remove some bacteria, but using a vinegar and bicarbonate of soda solution may be more effective at reducing the risk of E.coli contamination.’
She recommends putting prewashed fruit or veg in a litre of water and then adding 150ml white vinegar and 40g bicarbonate of soda. Stir until the bicarb dissolves, leave for 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.
Lauren Johnson Reynolds, aka, the London Wellness Coach, meanwhile, warns that bicarbonate of soda can make berries mushy. ‘I tend not to use it for this reason, but it’s fantastic on everything else. Saltwater and vinegar and water solution are also very effective,’ she adds.
Washing isn’t the only thing to do
It’s important to remember that washing is just one part of food hygiene practises and must work as part of an overall routine.
Marley says: ‘It’s also important to handle and store fruits and vegetables properly, cook them to the appropriate temperature, and practice good hygiene to prevent foodborne illnesses.’
It also should be noted that washing will not completely rid any food item of bacteria, but it will reduce the risk of bad bacteria.
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