Rinse Only Veggies But Wash Hands w/ Soap For 20 Seconds?!

[fmdog44]

We are told to kill bacteria we wash our hands for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap. Why then do we only rinse salads and veggies that we eat raw? How does water kill bacteria???

 

[hollydolly]

Very good question. I don't know the answer tho'... but I'll be watching to see if anyone else does...

 

[Geezerette]

This is just my own theory: Water will remove many possible sources of harmful bacteria like the soil it grew in or foreign matter it might have been exposed to in shipping just by flushing stuff away. I wouldn't put soap on veggies or fruits and distrustful of those fruit and veg wash products. Hands are exposed to more different kinds of potentially harmful bacteria including from within ones own body. Soap or detergent suds apparently have antibacterial properties.

 

[RadishRose]

Along those lines, hands touch things that produce usually doesn't.

Door knobs, shopping cart handles, toilets, money, all sorts of things that people with colds have touched with their hands after sneezing, coughing or blowing their noses. Our hands touch those things and if we touch our mouths, noses or eyes, with unwashed hands, we get those germs.

Then there's raw poultry, meat, etc.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Washing the produce knocks the dirt off if you want to kill bacteria you need to spray it or rinse it in a solution of vinegar and or hydrogen peroxide.

I don't bother to go beyond a quick rinse or a short soak if the vegetables are sandy/gritty but I do expect restaurants to take additional precautions for my protection, go figure.