How to Wash Your Fruit

Packed with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants, we know that fruit is super-good for us. But ingesting them with any harmful residues or germs that may have gotten on them isn’t, which is why it’s always important to wash your fruit before you eat it. This rule applies to all fresh fruit – whether it’s pears you’ve received in pear baskets from Pittman & Davis, apples you’ve bought in the grocery store, or you bought cherries online or picked them yourself. Just because it looks clean doesn’t mean it is – and while we at Pittman & Davis make sure all the fruit in our fruit gifts have been washed before sending them to you or your loved ones, it doesn’t hurt them at all to wash them again.

The Importance of Washing Fruit

It is always advisable to wash all fruit and vegetables before you eat them to ensure they are clean and to help remove bacteria from the outside. This is true even when we’re not dealing with a global pandemic, as washing your fruit first helps to remove bacteria (including E. coli) from its surface. If you buy your fresh produce from the grocery store or farmer’s market it’s even more important, as it’s likely been handled by numerous people – and possibly coughed, sneezed, or breathed on as well.

If you’re already in the habit of washing fresh fruit and other produce, that’s great – but are you doing it the right way to keep your family safe?

Clean Fruit Starts with Clean Hands

Washing your hands is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of germs, and one of the many times we should wash our hands is immediately prior to handling food – especially food we’re going to put right into our mouths without cooking first, like fruit.

Thanks to COVID-19, we’ve heard a lot about the right way to wash our hands, but it doesn’t hurt to go over it one more time: wet your hands with clean, running water (it can be warm or cold), then turn off the faucet and apply soap. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap, ensuring you lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails as well as the palms. Scrub for at least twenty seconds (if you need help, sing the “Happy Birthday” song to yourself twice while scrubbing. Once finished, you can rinse your hands under clean, running water and let them air-dry or use a clean towel to dry them.

Now you’re ready to wash your fruit!

Water: Fresh Fruit’s Best Cleanser

The good news is that water really is the best thing to use when cleaning fruit. In the wake of the pandemic, some people claim that fruit should be washed with soap, vinegar, lemon juice, or even commercial cleansers. Both the CDC and the FDA say this is not only unnecessary, it could even be harmful. Commercial cleaning chemicals can be very dangerous when ingested, while vinegar, lemon juice and produce washes haven’t been shown to be any more effective for cleaning fruit than just plain water.

How to Wash Fruit with Water

Here are five steps you should follow when washing your fresh fruit:

1. Don’t wash your fruit until you’re ready to eat it. Washing fruit only to then store it could create an environment that encourages the growth of bacteria.

2. Wash your hands using the steps above. Be sure to also clean your sink, any utensils, cutting board, or work surfaces you might use in the preparation of your fruit before eating it, too.

3. Start by cutting away any bruised or visibly rotten areas of the fruit. If you’re handling a piece of fruit or that needs to be peeled, such as a Honeybell, wash it before peeling it to prevent any surface bacteria from entering the flesh.

4. For fruits with firmer skins (like apples and pears), you may use a brush with soft, clean bristles to help remove residues from their pores. More delicate fruits (like cherries and berries) should be cleaned with a steady stream of water and gentle friction using your fingers to remove grit.

5. Once you have thoroughly rinsed your fruit, dry it using a clean paper towel or soft, clean dishcloth. Delicate fruits can be laid out on the towel and gently patted or rolled around to dry them without damage.

A Note for Citrus-Lovers

Those who love to order citrus online from Pittman & Davis (like our best-selling oranges and grapefruit) have an advantage – the part you’re going to eat (i.e. the flesh of the Honeybell or Tangerine) is safely under wraps (i.e. the peel). That doesn’t mean you should skip the cleansing process before peeling that sweet grapefruit or Cara Cara Orange, however – especially if you plan to use the peel for zest. Some cooks worry that washing the peels will wash away the flavorful and aromatic oils within them, but this is a fallacy – remember, these fruits have been rained on! They’ve also hung on trees where critters could crawl over them, so always wash before you zest.

Other Articles You May Find Interesting:

• 3 Ways to Preserve Pears for Later Use
• How to Store Texas Grapefruit
• How to Cut Citrus
• Facts/Uses for Clementines