The Best Way to Wash Produce (Hint: You Don’t Need Soap!)

It’s 2007, and I’m pulling up to the loading dock of a blueberry grower in Hammonton, New Jersey, for the first time. I’m not buying enough fruit to fill an official van, so I’ve shown up in my bright blue Toyota RAV4, ready to stack cases of berries into the back.

An older woman comes out to greet me and starts bringing out cases of fruit for me to load up. I ask if I can try some of the berries—I can’t leave without tasting them; it’s The FruitGuys’ policy—and she smiles.

“Just pull some out of the clam,” she says, gesturing to a clamshell of bright blue-purple fruit. “I’ve been eating them like that [not washed] for 30 years!”

To Wash or Not to Wash

My team and I have heard a similar sentiment from a lot of our farm partners since then. For farmer Byron Albano of Cuyama Orchards, for example, a wipe on a clean shirt will do for his apples. And although I happily ate delicious blueberries right out of the clam without washing them that day (and have done the same many times since with fruit fresh from the field), we at The FruitGuys don’t recommend it.

The Best Way to Wash Produce

Washing fruit in cool running water is the recommended way to rinse away pesticides, dirt, and debris. Lately, we’ve heard chatter that washing your fruit with baking soda and/or vinegar is even better, so we dug into the data. As our writer Lex shares in this blog, it turns out that while washing your produce with those add-ins won’t do you any harm (both are safe to eat), it won’t necessarily do more good than running water, either.

Fruit Washing Pro Tips

Before you wash your fruit, remember to wash your hands and any utensils you’re using. You don’t want bacteria from your hands (or a dirty colander or knife) to transfer to the produce. You should also wait to wash your fruit until right before you eat or prepare it. Depending on the fruit, washing it and then letting it sit around wet can invite mold or speed up degradation. You can check out the blog for even more produce-washing dos and don’ts.

If your team has trouble remembering to wash their hands and fruit, we have printable signs for the break room that will help remind them. Just email info@fruitguys.com or fill out our contact form to request that free download for your office. We’re happy to send it your way—because whether your fruit comes from a Hammonton farm or one of our boxes (or both), we’re here to help make sure it’s safe, fresh, and delicious.