Do you know what’s found on the produce that you purchase at your grocery store?
Fresh produce can become contaminated in many ways. During the growing phase, produce may be contaminated by animals, harmful substances in the soil or water, and poor hygiene among workers. After produce is harvested, it passes through many hands, increasing the contamination risk. Contamination can even occur after the produce has been purchased, during food preparation, or due to inadequate storage.
Hence, it’s so important to wash the fresh fruits and vegetables adequately to remove germs and unwanted residues from their surfaces before consuming them.
Here Are 4 Tips To Wash Fruits And Vegetables Properly Before Consumption:
- Wash Your Hands Before Washing the Produce
The importance of washing hands to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cannot be emphasised enough. Even when you are going to rinse vegetables, you must ensure that your hands are clean as well! Wash your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap before and after preparing fresh produce.
- Wash the Produce with Fruit and Vegetable Rinse
Fruit and vegetable wash is basically hand soap for produce. While much of the produce available at the grocery store is rinsed, it’s rarely completely washed. Thus, your produce might contain bacteria like E. coli and salmonella crawling on your produce, and you plan to eat it raw, you could get sick. Produce with exposed edible skin like apples and cucumbers are also often treated with wax to increase their shelf life. While these wax are naturally occurring on produce and all used are technically food-grade, you still might not want to eat them. Vegetable wash cleans away all the grit and grime—significantly more than rinsing produce with water alone.
Wash away dirt, pesticides, waxy coatings, and other contaminants the safe, natural, and healthy way with Sunsmile® Fruit & Vegetable rinse. Made from eco-friendly surfactants from corn and coconut, our super-concentrated, biodegradable rinse thoroughly cleans fruits and vegetables in minutes. SunSmile® Fruit & Vegetable Rinse is safe for your family and the environment, so you can enjoy peace of mind along with cleaner, brighter, tastier produce.
- Use a brush or sponge if necessary
The same principle applies to produce as it does to handwashing: you need to dislodge any bacteria or pesticides that are lingering on the surface, and the best way to do that is through friction. Take a vegetable brush or sponge to clean root vegetables like potatoes or carrots, and scrub firm produce such as melons and cucumbers to ensure all dirt is removed. Whereas for loose fruits such as berries or grapes, wash it with the Fruit & Vegetable rinse and run it under warm water before draining it in a colander. When you’re ready to serve or prepare, transfer them to clean bowls or cookware.
- Dry Off Produce with a Cloth
After washing it thoroughly, avoid recontaminating your food and dry by cleaning the produce with a clean cloth towel or disposable paper towel to further reduce the risk of bacterial or viral transmission from a dirty surface onto your ready-to-eat fruit or veggie!
Founded in 1982, Sunrider International is a world-class manufacturer of high-quality herbal products for health, beauty and home needs. Sunrider products are produced in our own state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities to help you enjoy a healthy lifestyle by providing the right nutrition to people around the world and supporting health, balance and well-being.
Come visit us at MBS Stand F48 to learn more!
