Do I Really Need Water AND Soap to Wash My Fruits and Vegetables?

COVID-19 is changing everything. The way we handle interaction at work and play and covering those essential grocery store runs. Then, once you're done bagging and bringing home the fresh produce and other groceries, it suddenly hits you, with so much uncertainty and anxiety in the air, it's only natural to wonder when you're palming a piece of fruit, or say, heaven forbid, a clump of cauliflower or broccoli, is water AND soap now needed to diffuse a potentially deadly weapon?

The debate around giving your fruits and veggies a sudsy once over blew up last week following a viral video in which a family doctor from Michigan said soap and water was a good way to keep veggies coronavirus free, which sounds like it makes sense.

Since then a whole bunch of experts have refuted this advice, many pointing out that of the 1-million cases of COVID-19 worldwide, not a single one has come from contaminated food. Then, there is this direct quote from the FDA:  “Washing fruits and vegetables with soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash is not recommended.”

A food safety researcher at the University of Waterloo, Jodi Koberinski, agrees, noting that dish soap is likely to cause more problems than it solves including nausea, diarrhea, and cramping. “It is not made for and not safe for human consumption,” she explains.

A great read here about other myths surrounding food safety and its relation to COVID-19.