When I go to the open-air produce farmers market, there are hundreds of people feeling and handling tomatoes, apples, and other fruits and vegetables to decide which ones to select.
At home we simply rinse them under cold water and put them away. Its makes us feel better but I don’t see how that really cleans the produce. What precautions do you take? Do you wash tomatoes in soapy water?
You can catch more flies with a flyswatter than with honey and/or vinegar
I once lost my corkscrew and had to live on food and water for several days
(W.C. Fields)
If you’re cooking potatoes without peeling them you should scrub them with a brush.
Lettuce should be rinsed in cold water and dried as much as possible before using in a salad.
Don’t worry about the surgical masks.
Just never under any circumstance shake hands with them!!
<h6>Cha ching</h6>
“Tell me and I’ll forget; Show me and
I may remember; Involve me and I’ll
understand.” - Old Chinese Proverb
How you clean them depends on what you want to clean off of them.
Is your main concern yuckiness ("Ooh, they touched them!) or are you mainly concerned about infectious disease? If you are mainly concerned about yuckiness you associate with “hundreds of people feeling and handling … fruits and vegetables” you’ll have to do whatever it takes to alleviate your own particular paranoia (water, soap and water, dilute chlorine bleach, Lysol?).
If you are concerned about infectious disease, then a more directed approach is appropriate. Take advantage of what Louis Pasteur figured out over a hundred years ago: disease aren’t caused by “dirt” but by specific living organisms. We know that each living organism has its own particular ecological niche and means of getting around. You can take advantage of this knowledge to prevent undesirable organism that include human bodies in their ecological niche from setting up shop inside you. What disease are you afraid you might get from the touched-by-human-hands fruits and vegetables at your farmers’ market? If it is bubonic plague, you can clean the fruits and vegetables by blowing on them since anything that gets rid of fleas (the carrier of plague-causing bacteria) will protect you from plague. (There isn’t much chance of there being any fleas on tomatoes anyway since tomatoes, no matter how many people touch them, are not part of fleas’ ecological niche.) More likely you are worried about contracting diarrhea caused by one of the multitude of organisms that cause diarrhea in humans (e.g., salmonella spp., giardia, rotavirus, ETEC, etc.). When worried about exposure to diarrhea-causing organisms, the key thing to remember is that the ones that want to infect your bowels are currently infecting the bowels of other people or animals. Their means of getting around are pretty limited. They have no wings or legs. They basically have to travel in raw feces. So what you need to think about is: “What are the chances that feces from some infected person or animal have gotten on my fruits or vegetables?” and “How can I clean raw feces (cooked feces are safe) from my fruits and vegetables.” The answer to the first question depends on the hygiene of the people who grow, distribute, sell, and touch the food at your farmer’s market. The answer to the second one you can figure out for yourself but I would say, based on my experience with shoes and dog doodoo, that a brush, soap, and water make a good start.
Colon and Yeah: I wasn’t really concerned about the bubonic plague organisms. And Yeah: thanks for the lesson on bacteria and the harm they may or may not cause. I guess they never taught me that in medical school.
Of course Salmonella and Shigella organisms are the most likely organisms to be transferred and as I said rinsing in cold water alone doesn’t necessarily destroy these organisms. If so, why do they recommend soap and not just water when you finish in the restroom?
And Yeah:Since you use the term paranoid, you wouldn’t have any objection to using some stranger’s toothbrush would you? or drinking out of his glass at a restaurant as long as you use cold water to rinse the toothbrush or glass?
You can catch more flies with a flyswatter than with honey and/or vinegar
Are you really an MD, skelton4947, who doesn’t know why you use soap to wash your hands? Check out http://www.straightdope.com/columns/960112.html for Cecil’s comments. Basically, soap helps break up the dirt that the bacteria are stuck to. In general, that’s why it’s easier to clean things with soap. You could clean your produce with just water, or soap and water, but you’ll have to scrub longer without soap to get rid of the same amount of dirt and bacteria (if any).
I just wash produce with water, unless it’s visibly dirty (I don’t want to eat dirt). I suppose if I saw someone sneeze on it right before I got it, I’d also use some soap 
Arjuna34
Arguna: sheesh…Why don’t you read my response carefully. Colon and Yeah made a mockery of this question which by the way was put in General Question category and now you do the same? My point about the soap is that you all think its stupid to use soap on vegetables as tomatoes as a rinse in cold water is quite adequate. Yet the purpose of using SOAP and not just water is so that the molecules of soap combine with bacteria and their toxins thereby destroying them.
Well the same organisms that get on your hands in a restroom also can cling to fruit such as tomatoes where just cold water may not be sufficient. Thats a serious question and one that we physicians have tossed back and forth over the years. I was hoping to get more intelligent answers than I have received so far on this topic.
“Sheesh” skelton. Nobody is making a mockery of your question. (Did you say “paranoia”?) How to wash possibly contaminated fruits and vegetables is perhaps the most common health question that Americans have when they move to less-developed countries and it’s an important question. Unfortunately, much of the advice they are given is nonsense.
In response to your question to me, I would prefer not to use a stranger’s toothbrush because it’s yucky. As for restaurant glassware, I would prefer it be washed in hot, soapy water and presented to me sparkling clean. However, I have been served beer at some questionable establishments in glasses that were, at best, quickly rinsed in cold water between customers. I suffered no ill effects. The fact is not many people carry virulent gastrointestinal pathogens around in their mouths so you can, in fact, use their glasses (heck, you can even kiss them) without running much of a risk.
I wash my questionable fruits and vegetable with soap and water to get rid of any fecal contamination. “Basically, soap helps break up the dirt that the bacteria are stuck to.” Water alone is less effective. However, I do not use soap to destroy bacteria or their “toxins.” Ordinary hand soap and ordinary dishwashing liquid are not reliably bactericidal.
Isn’t anyone going to ask about soaking in lettuce in potassium permanganate?
Sure, they are loaded with bacteria. Mostly from customers in the store touching them but your body can handle bacteria very well.
I use that stuff called “Fit” It seems to work well from my experience. A tomato gets “squeeky” clean and gets rid of a lot of the dirt on a potato.
It may not be the best solution, but probably better than a simple run under water.
TechChick and Yeah: Seriously thanks to all. I learned this A.M. from a friend that Trader Joe’s out here in California, they have a spray that mixed with H20 cleans dirt, bacteria and pesticides.
You can catch more flies with a flyswatter than with honey and/or vinegar
Two reasons to wash produce: pesticides and poop germs. Both are valid reasons. Tests show most produce has traces of pesticide, and washing can remove it. Sanitary conditions for field workers are abysmal. Some growers don’t provide any toilet facilities, so pickers have to poop between the rows and wipe with leaves. If portable toilets are provided, and IF they’re not out of paper, there’s no way for the pickers to wash their hands before they go back to handling your produce. Are your veggies contaminated? Could be.
Consumer Reports says washing with a mild detergent solution will make your produce safe.
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