# Do you wash raspberries before eating ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2017, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214 "2017-01-03T08:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/21 "2017-01-03T14:18:01Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > True, and not silly at all. Thanks for confirming that my madness maybe isn’t so mad after all. For me, ‘mouthfeel’ (not a word I like very much but there it is), and variety, contrast or change of texture, flavour, temperature etc is one of the most joyful parts of eating - getting unmixed hot-and-cold, or bitter-and-sweet, or tart-and-creamy (or in the case of raspberries, downy-then-juicy) in the same spoonful, then feeling and tasting the two contrasting things blend and mingle in my mouth, is just lovely. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/22 "2017-01-03T15:03:34Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Furthermore (and these points are going to sound silly to some, but they’re really important to me): > > The first thing you experience when eating a really fresh raspberry, straight off the cane is the delicate slightly-downy-flocked exterior, which is then overwhelmed by a burst of tart, fruity juiciness - washing them destroys this - and it doesn’t completely come back even if the fruit is allowed to dry after washing. > > The aroma of blackberries is partly on the outside of the skins. Pick a cupful of blackberries and smell them - the aroma is amazing. Wash them - they smell of nothing and whilst they are still tasty, they are no longer nearly so aromatic. Again, even allowing them to dry does not restore them to their prewashed state. I’m no connoisseur but I don’t consider what you describe silly. Raspberries are delicious and have a very distinctive feel and flavour, which water partly destroys. As far as strawberries are concerned, the best I’ve ever eaten were half a dozen I hand-picked at random in a wood somewhere in Sweden. Their taste was absolutely stunning… and I didn’t wash them either. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/23 "2017-01-03T16:27:15Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Nope. But I don’t wash anything before eating it. This, mostly. People in my life are periodically appalled and bring up pesticides and workers who don’t wash their hands and insects with bad oral hygiene and so on. I wash things that were pulled out of the ground and have dirt clinging to them, or are the kind of vegetation that grows in sandy soil and has half a sandbox rattling around inside the leaves, but mostly I eat stuff with the same caution that cows and bunny rabbits use when they eat such things. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/24 "2017-01-03T16:29:42Z")
We largely wash our fruit due to the periodic episodes of bacteria/listeria contamination that make the news. This seems less important now that the children are older and I am no longer pregnant. Perhaps we will start skipping this step. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/25 "2017-01-03T17:04:21Z")
I wash raspberries by putting them in a fine mesh strainer, running it under gently running water, shaking gently, then turning out on a paper towel or dishtowel to dry off some (I do this with small pasta shells, too). Then I eat, or use them. I can’t eat anything I bring home that is unwashed, people handle apples and tomatoes at the market with their germy hands. Even if the germs or pesticides don’t wash off, I will still wash. Same with washing my hands before eating a sandwich, I can almost ‘feel’ the germs going down the drain. ---
**Author:** ![TexCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texcat/32/9041_2.png) [@TexCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexCat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/26 "2017-01-03T17:47:28Z")
I unfortunately do most of my produce shopping at the local mega-mart, where I unfortunately buy mass grown mega agriculture produce. I rinse everything. For hard skin fruits, like lemons, oranges, melons, even tomatoes, I use a drop of dish soap when I wash them. If I’m ever lucky enough to get something out of my garden, I rinse to remove any dirt or bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/27 "2017-01-03T20:04:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > \ if you grow tomatoes, try comparing the smell of one straight from the vine vs another that you have washed. There’s a layer of aromatic resin on the outside of the skin, exuded by the leaves of the plant. It’s one of the key things that makes tomatoes taste more ‘tomatoey’ when they are eaten straight off the plant. > Another way you can test this - smell your hands after picking tomatoes. There is flavour on the outside of the fruit, and you’ll get it all over your hands when you pick them. > Not sure about black raspberries - but with wild blackberries, there is a perfume to the unwashed, fresh-picked fruit that disappears when they are washed and does not return when they are dry. It’s also lost when they are cooked or juiced, so it’s sort of academic unless you are eating them whole and fresh. So…wait. What happens if they’re rained on or someone waters the plants? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/28 "2017-01-03T20:12:45Z")
Raspberries are generally either homegrown or foraged, and don’t get washed. As a kid I used to drop 'em in boiling water 'cos it kills the raspberry beetle larvae, which then drop out of the fruit, but in recent years I would rather eat slightly fewer berries rather than eat the half a fruit that a bug hadn’t quite got round to yet. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/29 "2017-01-03T20:30:09Z")
We water our raspberries with lake water, so yes, I prefer to wash them. Fish poop is great fertilizer, but I don’t want to eat any more of it than I have to. I’ll swish them around in a bowl of water - some detritus floats to the top, others sink to the bottom. Then I’ll give them a spin in a salad spinner lined with paper towels. (This is the method recommended by Cooks Illustrated for delicate fruits.) I don’t see how a quick rinse with water is any worse than them getting rained on. I think the bigger problem is the berries squashing each other in the bucket as they’re being picked - that seems to do more damage than washing. And a sun-warmed fruit is always going to taste better. Gods do I miss warm weather. What’s the latest actual data on pesticide residues and washing produce? I’m seeing a lot of conjecture in this thread and no actual cites. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/30 "2017-01-03T20:35:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The funny thing is, the maggots have got just enough ‘go’ in them to crawl right out of the fruit as it is cooked (or steeped in alcohol to make liqueur) - so you end up with blackberry-and-maggot pie. It may sound unappetizing, but maggot pie from a hot oven is probably quite safe to eat. Just don’t look at your food too closely, which is wise advice always. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/31 "2017-01-03T20:38:01Z")
The ones I got from my old back yard, never. Straight off the plant. Store bought or don’t know where they came from? Always. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/32 "2017-01-03T23:20:31Z")
My garden: Only if they’ve been sprayed or leaf-fed recently, or they’re dirty. Anywhere else: Wash everything. I’ve seen too many people probing their orifices and then handling produce. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/33 "2017-01-04T01:16:16Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Pesticides are generally designed to be somewhat water-resistant, or they would wash off the first time it rains. > > They’re also typically applied weeks or months (depending on crop) before harvest time, so they will have naturally subsided by the time of picking. > > If there’s perceptible dirt on fruits and vegetables, then there’s something to wash off. In the case of root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, etc), if they’re caked with mud, they’ll need a scrub, but they can stand it. > In most other cases, if it looks clean, it’s as clean as it’s going to get - rinsing with water will have minimal effect on germs, and in some cases (raspberries in particular), there’s no kind of washing that is both a)useful and b)that the fruit will survive. This is my take as well. I also second your thoughts about the special and wonderful texture of raspberry fuzz. People who think like **salinqmind** and others above are welcome to their fixations. There are certainly found in great numbers across our fair land. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/34 "2017-01-04T02:04:07Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If it’s brown or darkish (i.e. juice stained), it’s often a sign of insect larvae inside. \*\* I discard these fruits for the mice and birds to eat.\*\* The mice and birds have plenty of berries to eat besides your rotten insect-larvae berries. What else are you feeding the mice? ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/35 "2017-01-04T03:43:58Z")
It’s January. Where did these raspberries come from? And, FTR, I give produce at least a light rinse unless the package says it’s already been rinsed. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/36 "2017-01-04T04:32:57Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > If they’re store-bought, no I wouldn’t wash them. > > Wild-picked blackberries… I think I 'd want to double-check that they were picked from above waist (or at least dog-waist) height. I picked some wild blackberries and ate a few and brought some home to eat . When I opened the bag there tiny ants all over the bag ! :eek: I threw the berries out and no longer eat wild berries until I wash them first . I wash store brought raspberries , I rise them off very lightly and don’t wash them all at once . ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/37 "2017-01-04T07:16:05Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > The mice and birds have plenty of berries to eat besides your rotten insect-larvae berries. What else are you feeding the mice? I don’t understand the question. Of course the mice have access to berries growing at ground level, and also to any berry that naturally falls off the bush. ‘I’ll let the mice have that one’ is just mental shorthand for ‘I don’t want that one’. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/38 "2017-01-04T07:30:11Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] … if it looks clean, it’s as clean as it’s going to get - rinsing with water will have minimal effect on germs… …The aroma of blackberries is partly on the outside of the skins. Pick a cupful of blackberries and smell them - the aroma is amazing. Wash them - they smell of nothing and whilst they are still tasty, they are no longer nearly so aromatic… …There’s a layer of aromatic resin on the outside of the skin, exuded by the leaves of the plant. It’s one of the key things that makes tomatoes taste more ‘tomatoey’ when they are eaten straight off the plant… [/QUOTE] Not to be argumentative, but it doesn’t make sense to say that germs won’t wash off, but the resins providing aromas will wash off. I think a more logical justification for not washing would be to say that any random germs are unlikely to hurt a person. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/39 "2017-01-04T07:50:31Z")
Raspberries and blackberries have maggots in them? Ah man. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214/40 "2017-01-04T07:52:45Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Not to be argumentative, but it doesn’t make sense to say that germs won’t wash off, but the resins providing aromas will wash off. Well, you’re comparing two different statements, one about raspberries/blackberries and the other about tomatoes. A contradiction is not surprising. Tomatoes can be washed quite thoroughly without physically destroying them - so you can probably significantly reduce the bacterial dose on a tomato (assuming there are bad things on there to wash off), but this washing will remove the aromas (which are from resins exuded by the leaves) from the outside of the skin. Raspberries can’t be washed beyond gentle rinsing (and even that spoils them) - this rinsing does dimimish the aroma, which, in the case of raspberries and blackberries, I think must be more delicate a compound than a resin - it’s either removed or suppressed by washing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-raspberries-before-eating/776214.md?page=3)