You're probably already eating a good amount of fruits and vegetables but are you washing them all? I recently went to eat a banana and someone said, "Aren't you going to wash that first?" I thought, well no because I am going to peel it. But should I? So I did a little investigative work and here is what I found out: you should wash all fruits and vegetables, even those that you only eat the inside of, like bananas, kiwis, mangos, etc. Imagine how many hands and things touch the fruit before it actually gets to your mouth. Your hands could pick up the bacteria on the unwashed peel and transfer it onto the part you eat. This goes for all fruits and vegetables that you may peel before eating, so why not wash them first? It only takes a few seconds.
Do you already wash produce you're going to peel or not eat the skins of?
Lepel
Patrizia Pepe
Burberry
good point...
1Everyone is too germaphobic these days.
2wow. never ever would have considered that.
3I heard this before but I haven't done it yet. Wouldn't it just make the fruit soggy especially Kiwis?
4I think this is being slightly overcautious...
5I never wash bananas or oranges...but kiwis, mangoes yeah.
6I never did before I read this, but now I will...good point, seems so obvious now! And I always use my hands to grab the last bit of banana after my hands have been on the peel...
7I eat bananas all the time unwashed and I haven't died yet.
Though I did totally grab a banana once that had a mysterious cocoon attached to it. How appetizing!
8I never touch the banana meat with my hands...I don't feel I need to do this.
9I've heard that people get more food allergies now a days because we're too sanitary and the immune system doesn't get built up enough. I think the banana thing might be a good example of that. I don't know whether I believe it really needs to be rinsed, but I've had bananas lots of times without getting sick from it.
10I have never heard of washing fruit you peel especially bananas...hopefully i will remember to do this as well
11personally i think if you do this then you are the sort of person that takes sanitizing wipes to bus hand rails
12I think this is kind of pushing it... If you eat well and you're healthy, your immune system should be able to deal with a few germs. It's probably good to give your immune system something to deal with now & then, especially since we no longer have parasites to keep it active & strong. If you let it fight off some of the smaller stuff, it will be strong enough to handle it when something truly nefarious comes along.
13As much as I get the logic behind it, I'm way too lazy to do this, especially for bananas and oranges.
14This is getting ridiculous. A moderate amount of germs are good for you. It builds up immunity and antibodies. If your body is never exposed to them, then it wont know how to fight them. Basically unless you are on chemo or SCID then I think youll be fine and even benefit from it. Im going to go eat a dirty banana now...
15It never would have even occurred to me to wash the outside of a fruit that I would peel...but I think I will start. Thanks.
16My boyfriend and I always argue about whether you need to wash eggs. I was thinking that you shouldn't but I guess you should wash them because other people touch them!
17No, I don't wash fruit I peel. I rarely even remember to wash half the fruit I DON'T peel. I'm totally the anti-germaphobe, and so far it's working - neither of my sons (2 and 4) has ever had to go to a doctor because of an illness, my husband and I haven't visited a doctor for an illness in 5+ years. I think regular exposure to minor germs probably protects our immune system and helps to prevent reactions like allergies.
18yeah, this seems a little crazy to me...
19There's no way I'm washing my banana before I eat it. I eat it because it's a good on the go food.. meaning I don't have to be near a kitchen/bathroom/anywhere before I eat it.
20Well, what about the bacteria and microbes in tap water? Are we gonna start washing our fruit in purified water now? This is getting just more than just a little insane.
People need to be exposed to germs every now and then to build their immune systems. Not only do we need it, it's unavoidable. Even if you get rid of the germs on the banana, there are normal bacteria everywhere - in the air, on the clean knife you cut it with to put it in your cereal, on your clean hands... The over-sanitization actually makes the situation worse. Sure, you can clean your kids' toys with a bleach solution like in the commercials, and they'll get rid of 99.9% of bacteria. But what about that .1%? You just killed off all the weak bacteria and let the strongest ones survive. Then they'll multiply and make you even sicker.
*gets off soapbox*
21It depends. I only wash things like melons that I'm going to cut because you can transfer germs from the outside to the inside with the blade. Bananas, oranges, etc., I don't wash because I'm not peeling the banana and then touching it before I eat it. Don't most people peel them and just bite directly off the freshly peeled fruit?? People really ARE getting really germophobic these days.
22I love eating bacteria. It's the non-pansy route.
23Blondambition: You should wash eggs if you are using them raw, or plan on eating any of that cookie dough/ cake batter (like I ALWAYS do!). Other than that, youre good... no washing needed. Salmonella lives on the eggshells, so you could cross contaminate. If youre cooking its okay, but like I said for the cookie dough...
24It seems a little unnecessary to me to wash a banana...or an orange.
25There is no way I am doing this.
26I wash ALL fruit except banannas...
27I usually wash fruits and veggies, but not bananas. I've never gotten sick after eating a banana, so I guess it's not that big a deal...
28yes to other fruits but never considered washing bananas.
29I don't really think you need to do this.
30wow, never thought of that
31i never wash the food im going to peel now i think im going start but i can see my self getting lazy doing that then going back to my old ways but im going to try to stick to it anyways thanks for the advice!!!!! Fitsugar
32Pass. I'll take the germs.
33I'm surprised how many don't wash oranges. I can't imagine anyone can actually peel a whole orange without somehow touching your hands or knife on both the rind and the "meat".
34i trust that all the herbicides and pesticides they spray on the crops won't let any dangerous bacteria survive - haha or maybe i'm just lazy
nah, but it's actually good for your immune system to be subject to
bacteria every now and then i mean its like you should let small kids eat a little dirt when they're out playing 
a little dirt isn't going to kill you, just boost your immune system!
35To me, health is about fighting the germs, not avoiding contact with them. That seems like saying, i have good fitness because i don't do anything that gets me out of breath.
Besides, the vast majority of bacteria aren't harmless, and the ones that are, often are difficult to kill.
36u can't kill bacteria with a rinse of water.
37Bananas, no- I don't touch the fruit with my fingers. Oranges and the like, yes- because I touch the fruit after peeling it (actually, instead of washing the fruit I wash my hands after peeling but before eating.)
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