Best Way to Wash Fruits and Vegetables

Question: What’s the best way to wash fresh fruits and vegetables? S. P. – Chapin, SC Answer: In truth, there is a lot of contaminated food out there and some people even soak their produce in Clorox. I do not do this and do not recommend it. From both a practical and a scientific viewpoint, the thing to do is to peel a fresh fruit or vegetable, such as an apple or a carrot that can be peeled. For foods that cannot be peeled, washing under running water for a minute or two will go a long way reducing both bacterial and chemical contamination. For foods like lettuce, remove the outer layers and wash the leaves separately. There is no perfect way to do this, but the above is something anyone can do; nothing special is needed.