Make Your Own Fruit & Veggie Wash (Healthy Eating Series)

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Did you know that your fruits and vegetables can harbor dangerous bacteria in them?  That doesn’t sound very healthy does it?  You just never know who had their hands on that apple at the store.  It could’ve been that sweet little toddler with a nasty cough.  And, don’t you just hate it when you bring your strawberries home and don’t realize that one strawberry was moldy and it infects the whole container of them overnight?  When the mold starts growing, it just keeps growing and contaminates the whole bunch.

There’s a few ways that you can combat bacteria growth on your fruits and veggies.  According to one study, just washing them with water alone does a fairly good job.  But, scrubbing with a scrub brush does slightly better and removes 85% of the bacteria (which is just slightly higher than the water all by itself).  Of course, you can even take it one step further.  A friend of mine (Hi April!) shared with me how she uses water mixed with vinegar to combat this little problem.  In the same study, it said that a water & vinegar spray or soak eliminates 98% of bacteria.  Of course, this works better for smooth skinned fruits and vegetables than rough skinned ones.  Vegetables such as cauliflower that have lots of cracks and crevices may need a longer soak to eliminate the bacteria.

In order to try this, all you need to do is soak your fresh produce in 3 parts water with 1 part vinegar.   You can adjust the amount by the amount of the solution that you make up depending on the amount of produce that you plan to clean at once.  If you don’t plan to use the produce right away, be sure to allow your fruits and vegetables to dry completely before storing them again.  This is especially important with strawberries.

This is Day 2 in a 10 day series I’m doing on Healthy Eating.  I’m doing this series along with the iHomeschool Network.  There are many topics to choose between.  From Becoming Healthy & Fit to Teaching With LEGO  to New Experiences, there’s something of interest to everyone!  Click the picture below to see the rest of the topics!