Is there a micro-biologist in the house?

Mike Harding · Guru

Is there a micro-biologist in the house?

Craig1 · Guru

Definitely wash, best you can. You cannot be sure of source washing.

Whenarewethere · Guru

Doesn't matter how much you wash your face there will always be micro spiders living in your eyelash roots!

Radar · Guru

My wife said, "wash", but use the wster for some other purpose.

oldbloke · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
Doesn't matter how much you wash your face there will always be micro spiders living in your eyelash roots!

Good point.

Washing is about managing/reducing bugs, not elimination.

If you remove/wash away most of the crap you will have removed most. Bacteria generally prefer damp, warm, dirt.

But could be wrong.

P.S. not an expert

dabbler · Guru

Wash lightly under running water. Too long or too harsh will destroy any natural barrier and make things worse. Wash in vinegar for a small improvement if really concerned. Cross contamination is a very real possibility so use clean paper towel or nothing at all to dry (put washed stuff in a clean container where if can drain). Containers need to be clean and disinfected to really be certain. Washing removes farming and processing chemical residue as well as bacteria. Bacteria likes wet damp environments so think twice about buying packaged wet produce in bags or containers or loose wet produce like lettuce leaves. This was the gist if the advice given to me by friends working as public health pathology experts decades ago. (You don't want to hear the butcher shop strories.) Or be like me and eat those cherry tomatoes in the car on yhe way home and then realise they aren't washed.

msg · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:

Clearly, with food which is going to be well cooked (carrots and
such) washing is not an issue apart for removing soil but what about
salad stuff and similar?

To wash, or not to wash... that is the question...?

Wash as best as you can. If you travel overseas, they tell you to avoid the salads and uncooked food.

Izabarack · Guru

Washing in plain tap water is unlikely to do anything. You need to blanch to remove/kill bio-contaminates on the surface. I lived in SE Asia for several years and many of the veggie farms used human waste as fertiliser, not all, but enough to require strict attention to hygiene. Alternatively, a wash down using a 10:1 bleach solution, followed by an air dry if concerned about things like rat pee on the produce. I know people who work in major supermarkets and rely on their reports of good food handling methods.

Iza

dorian · Guru

www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/4-steps-to-food-safety

hufnpuf · Senior Member

I wrote a reply before and messed up the posting.... Can't be bother typing it out again LOL

www.abc.net.au/life/should-you-wash-fruit-and-vegetables-before-eating-them/11427008
CSIRO suggests rinsing.

Tomatoes in many shops these days have been grown hydroponically. They haven't been any where near soil or cow poo or the things that we used to need to make sure we washed off. Staff stocking shops probably wear latex gloves and they don't wear them into the loo where they might get e coli from poo and spread it if they don't wash their hands properly.

Those tomatoes in the box were probably packaged at source. Nobody in a shop probably handled them.

Upshot: supermarket veggies here in oz are probably not covered in stuff likely to poison you. Obviously a different kettle of fish overseas or direct from source where you don't know how they've been grown or handled.

orid · Senior Member

Whenarewethere wrote:
Doesn't matter how much you wash your face there will always be micro spiders living in your eyelash roots!

AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH Whenarewethere you are a shocker!!!! :)

Orid

outlaw40 · Guru

Just eat them .dont they say what doesnt kill you makes you stronger ;) ;)

Tony LEE · Guru

Been long-term motorhoming and living in around 35 countries over 17 years and take no special precautions with food and water, yet neither of us have had any health problems remotely attributable to contamination. Not all first worl countries either - two years in China, several months in each of Morocco, Turkey, Mexico and most South American countries. Also been connected to rainwater for all my childhood and much of adult life too. Too much cleaning isn't good for your health

elliemike · Guru

Tony LEE wrote:
Been long-term motorhoming and living in around 35 countries over 17 years and take no special precautions with food and water, yet neither of us have had any health problems remotely attributable to contamination. Not all first worl countries either - two years in China, several months in each of Morocco, Turkey, Mexico and most South American countries. Also been connected to rainwater for all my childhood and much of adult life too. Too much cleaning isn't good for your health

I am like you Tony, I was at sea when younger and ate from the street vendors in various places around the world. I still do eat what the locals eat if I am abroad. Ships water was just pumped from the mains in any port around the world where we needed to top up the tanks. No treatment to it on the ship. I was never on a ship where the crew went down with stomache bugs. Too much "Vino Collapso" yes we all suffered from that.

I do have a sensible attitude to hygiene and know what I will and wont eat or drink. Very rare for me to be ill, but worst case of "Alexandria Gut" I have had was here in Perth about 20 years ago. Not a clue why but just a 12 hour job of being sick and spending a bit of time in the bathroom.

I never buy Bottled water. Even travelling years ago, Back Packing through Malaysia and East Java, we treated our own water. Boiled it or just used couple of drops of Iodine in our water bottle and let it stand for 12 hours.

I suppose I am lucky maybe who knows.

A friend who is (was ) a doctor at the time said he had just read an article in the LANCET about the Western World not eating enough dirt to maintain a healthy Gut Flora.

msg · Guru

hufnpuf wrote:

Upshot: supermarket veggies here in oz are probably not covered in stuff likely to poison you. Obviously a different kettle of fish overseas or direct from source where you don't know how they've been grown or handled.

And there is the problem. Years ago maybe, but in todays world who knows what practices are in place. Even in Australia.

Remember the rockmelon poisoning? Ended being from runoff from a neighbours farm. I believe.

and what about Button Mushrooms. When they first came on the market they were lovely and clean and prinstine. We were admonished by chefs if we dared to wash them. No way these days they are getting into my pot without a thorough wash.

I have heard rumours about a lot of our food not being processed with the care of yesterday. All in the name of mass production and being the food bowl of the world and victims of greedy growers making themselves rich. There would not be too many jobs lost. All their pickers come from overseas and they rejected our local workers. We found that out during the pandemic

IMHO a little less quantity and a lot more quality would be a very beneficial outcome. Go China!! reject all our produce as much as you like. Maybe the growers will appreciate the local market and give us the best of the produce instead of sending it overseas and leaving us with the dregs.

dabbler · Guru

I've got a pretty strong gut and try to live the local life with o/s but have still suçcumbed to Taupo Tummy in NZ and the Berkshire Bug in UK (not my names but local treating GPs). Eating (or drinking) like a local even in familiar surroundings can catch you.

Fester55 · Veteran Member

Apart from washing unwashed spuds I can't remember the last time I washed vegetables/fruit for either storage or cooking. Last couple of times I've had a crook gut has been while away traveling.

Mike Harding · Guru

Many thanks all for your responses.

There doesn't seem to be a consensus so I'll just keep doing what I've been doing it doesn't do any harm to give them a wash and, I suppose, carrying the water is good exercise for me.... :)

dabbler · Guru

Mike. Public health experts all agree that washing fruits and veges is best practice even if homegrown. So get that extra exercise be and enjoy your safer produce.

dorian · Guru

I presume that government web sites are vetted by microbiologists and health professionals.