Unwashed fresh berries (or any fresh produce) can have dirt, bacteria, or even tiny insects living on or in them, not to mention pesticide residue on the fruit's skin, which can lead to foodborne illness.
Sometimes, raw fruits and vegetables contain harmful germs that can make you and your family sick, such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. The safest produce to eat is cooked; the next safest is washed. Wash fruits and vegetables under running water—even if you do not plan to eat the peel.
Eating contaminated strawberries could give you a foodborne illness. Common signs of foodborne illness include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and fever. These signs usually appear within 12 to 72 hours, and they can be serious.
Add 1 tsp. of baking soda to 4 cups of water, and soak your strawberries in a large bowl for five minutes. Then, rinse your strawberries with cold running water and pat them dry. Baking soda helps remove dirt, traces of pesticides, and more from fresh fruits and vegetables.
Why You Should Clean Strawberries. Unwashed berries, like many kinds of fresh produce, can have dirt, bacteria, and pesticides living on the surface. So, in order to not ingest said dirt, bacteria, and pesticides, it's super important to wash them thoroughly before you eat them!
Don't rinse them!
Don't rinse them beforehand as adding more moisture will just encourage any mold spores to grow even faster. Rinse only the ones you want, immediately before eating.
Use Baking Soda
Previous studies have shown that baking soda removes 66.7% to 98.9% of pesticides. Mix one teaspoon of baking soda with every two cups of cold water. Douse your fruits and vegetables for a minute, rinse, and enjoy without pesticides.
As a rule of thumb, washing with water reduces dirt, germs, and pesticide residues remaining on fresh fruit and vegetable surfaces. Washing and rubbing produce under running water is better than dunking it.
The primary rule about washing strawberries is simple: wash strawberries when, and only when, you're ready to eat or cook with them. Washing strawberries ahead of time only introduces moisture that wasn't there before and will make them go bad much faster.
Mix vinegar and water: Add 3 cups cold water and 1 cup vinegar to a bowl. Soak 5 minutes: Add the strawberries and soak for 5 minutes. Rinse: Drain and rinse with thoroughly cold tap water.
Quickly remove and discard any berries that are moldy or are touching moldy berries, wash the rest well, and then dry them before storing to prevent new mold. And if more than a quarter of the berries in your container are moldy, discard the whole batch.
Some highlights from the Dirty Dozen testing: More than 90 percent of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines and grapes tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides. A total of 210 pesticides were found on Dirty Dozen items.
Place your unwashed strawberries on top in a single layer, then cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, ideally within seven days. If you notice one of the strawberries going bad or turning moldy, immediately remove it and discard.
“If water is contaminated with Hepatitis, the strawberry comes into direct contact with the virus, and it's not likely to be washed off, because they're very delicate; it's not a smooth surface,” he says. “It's not easy to wash it off. So the virus can hide.”
Do not wash whole strawberries before stor- ing them, and remove any crushed or spoiled berries. Leave the green tops on whole strawber- ries during storage. Store strawberries in the refrigerator crisper. Keep the refrigerator clean and cold (40 degrees F or below).
Many pre-cut, bagged, or packaged produce items are pre-washed and ready-to-eat. If so, it will be stated on the packaging, and you can use the produce without further washing.
As with all fresh produce, we recommend that you wash your berries before enjoying them. However, hold off on washing them until you're ready to eat them – the moisture will decrease their shelf life. Can I freeze fresh berries? You sure can!
Why Fresh Berries Go Bad. Everyone says you shouldn't wash berries until just before you eat them because moisture shortens their shelf life. But the truth is, berries carry mold spores that cause them to go deteriorate very quickly. And that mold can spread through a whole basket of berries in a flash.
You can also wrap them tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Just know that once strawberries are washed and cut, they will deteriorate more quickly than whole, unwashed berries, and generally only last three to four days in the refrigerator.
Always wash your fruits and vegetables
Use salt, bicarb or vinegar to soak your vegetables for around 20 minutes to remove pesticides and bacteria.
Two consecutive washings can be used to achieve better removal; however, washing may affect the integrity of the skin, and make it more penetrable. 16 The handwashing procedure has been standardized to ensure operator independency in pesticide applications.
It turns out, washing your fruits and vegetables really might help. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you wash your produce to avoid food-borne illnesses like norovirus, which is the country's leading cause of disease outbreaks from contaminated food.
Symptoms of pesticide poisoning
It's only when fruits and vegetables are consumed directly without washing or cooking that there may be mild symptoms. These include nausea, diarrhoea, dizziness, headache, insomnia and irritation or allergy in the eyes, nose, throat or skin.
Organic foods are not necessarily pesticide-free. The pesticides that are allowed for organic food production are typically not manmade. They tend to have natural substances like soaps, lime sulfur and hydrogen peroxide as ingredients.
According to the experts from The Environmental Working Group, white vinegar comes with acetic acid, which can dissolve chemicals such as pesticides present on the skin of fruits and veggies. The acid can also kill about 98 percent of bacteria on your produce.