Question: Do you wash bananas?

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deedeehawaii
deedeehawaii Posts: 279 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Another post about pre-washed vegetables reminded me of this topic: washing bananas. I've always washed bananas when they come home from the store, after learning years ago about the dirty shipping environment and also the pesticides used on bananas coming from foreign countries.

And then recently, right here in the US, a video came to light about dirty food stores. You have to watch this video, especially about 60 seconds into it, where you see rats climbing all over the banana display.

It has reinforced my habit of washing bananas. I do not want to handle the outer skin with my hands, then handle the banana fruit (or other foods) with hands that have been contaminated by banana skin germs. So, I wash the bananas when I bring them come home from the store, before putting them on my counter for the family to eat.

Watch this. This could be YOUR open market store after hours. :noway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGXcv273jGI
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Replies

  • crestono
    crestono Posts: 1
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    I do not wash them, maybe I should.
  • SASSYJAX
    SASSYJAX Posts: 103 Member
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    I dont care personally, thats life isnt it.
  • cmw72
    cmw72 Posts: 390 Member
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    It would never occur to me to wash a banana. I'm not even sure it would even do any good.

    I've been eating bananas for probably 32 years now (at least) and I haven't had any problems yet. :)
  • deedeehawaii
    deedeehawaii Posts: 279 Member
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    I dont care personally, thats life isnt it.
    EEEEK, but my life is not going to include rat urine, if I can help it. EEEEEK
  • catherine1979
    catherine1979 Posts: 704 Member
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    I'm totally neurotic, so I wash everything that comes in the house, I even wipe off the few canned goods we buy.
  • kirsty1981
    kirsty1981 Posts: 3
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    i'v never washed a banana it has never even enter my mind to do that the banana wont be dirty in the inside tho :laugh:
  • pennyk78
    pennyk78 Posts: 19
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    By washing them I don't think we really do much...life has contaminants, it's what makes us strong and free from infection. We need a bit of exposure, even to rat wee lmao :)
  • JayAlexander
    JayAlexander Posts: 268 Member
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    Are you eating the peels? Are you not washing your hands regularly? Then what's on the outside of a banana really doesn't matter....
  • deedeehawaii
    deedeehawaii Posts: 279 Member
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    I'm totally neurotic, so I wash everything that comes in the house, I even wipe off the few canned goods we buy.
    Whew, I'd feel safe eating at your house. I wash oranges, too. 1148.gif
  • deedeehawaii
    deedeehawaii Posts: 279 Member
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    Are you eating the peels? Are you not washing your hands regularly? Then what's on the outside of a banana really doesn't matter....
    Scenerio: The average person washes their hands before lunch. They sit down to eat lunch. Lunch includes a banana. They peel banana with hands, and eat banana. They then eat sandwich with hands. They then eat carrot sticks with hands.

    I surmise that the average person does not get up BETWEEN the banana and sandwich and carrot sticks to wash their hands. Get rat pee on your hands during the banana peeling, and it is with you through the entire lunch. Ditto for your kids. Send them to school with pee contaminated food, and see if they get up to wash after peeling the banana, and before the rest of the meal.

    What is on the outside of food DOES MATTER. But to each their own, I guess, when it comes to what they put into their bodies.
  • pennyk78
    pennyk78 Posts: 19
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    If I think of all the healthy people I know (that don't wash bananas) they've never had any problems. I don't wash any fruit, and apart from being over weight lol, I have never been ill from anything like this :(
  • deedeehawaii
    deedeehawaii Posts: 279 Member
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    If I think of all the healthy people I know (that don't wash bananas) they've never had any problems. I don't wash any fruit, and apart from being over weight lol, I have never been ill from anything like this :(
    That is nice that you've never been made sick from eating unwashed fruit. Personally, I read way to many articles about food contamination to not try to be as safe as possible, within reason. I cannot imagine not washing fruits before eating them. It would be the same as .... using the restroom and then not washing my hands afterwards, or dropping food on a dirty public sidewalk and then picking it up and gobbling it down. UGH! Common sense about food safety is so basic.
  • marii92
    marii92 Posts: 77
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    This reminds me of an email I once received about how a woman died after drinking a can of soda. She died because rats had peed on the can. Although I always wash my fruits and veggies and wipe cans, from the very few times I've eaten bananas, I haven't washed them...but it doesn't matter for me. I absolutely detest bananas. They are disgusting *puke
  • deedeehawaii
    deedeehawaii Posts: 279 Member
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    EXCERPTS from About.Com: Nutrition
    http://nutrition.about.com/od/ahealthykitchen/a/washveggies.htm?p=1

    Do you know where your potatoes, oranges and tomatoes have been? Unless your fruits and vegetables are organic, they grew up in fields covered in pesticides and herbicides. Although the pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables are considered to be at safe levels for human consumption, do you really want those extra chemicals on your food?

    Once your fruits and vegetables were ready for harvest, they were handled by several different pairs of hands in the fields and orchards, then in the warehouses, and finally again in your grocery store. Bacteria such as Listeria, Salmonella and E. Coli may all be lurking on your fruits and vegetables, whether they are organically grown or conventionally grown. These bacteria all cause food-borne illness and need to be washed away from your produce.

    You need to get those fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet, but not the insects, chemicals and bacteria that come along with them so make sure you wash your fruits and vegetables before you eat them.

    Wash all pre-packaged fruits and vegetables, even if the label claims they are pre-washed.

    Wash all parts of your fruits and vegetables, even if you don't plan on eating them. Bacteria can live on the rind of an orange or the skin of a cucumber, for example. Though you may peel them away and toss them in the trash, the bacteria can be transferred from the outside of the fruit or vegetable to the knife you use to cut them, and then onto the parts you will be eating.

    Remember that the fruits and vegetables you buy may look clean when you pick them out at the grocery store, but you can't see bacteria or chemicals. Your fruits and vegetables still need to be washed before you eat them or serve them to guests or family members. This is especially important for produce and greens that are eaten raw.
  • innerhottie
    innerhottie Posts: 163 Member
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    I have never washed a banana, but it makes sense.
    I do wash melons and oranges before I cut them.
  • catherine1979
    catherine1979 Posts: 704 Member
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    I'm totally neurotic, so I wash everything that comes in the house, I even wipe off the few canned goods we buy.
    Whew, I'd feel safe eating at your house. I wash oranges, too. 1148.gif

    Me too, I was all produce. I understand we need exposure to germs for our immune systems to function, but rat pee? No thanks. I should add, this only started after I brought home some bread and the bag was chewed though. Blech.
  • kgrutch
    kgrutch Posts: 223
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    i dont wash my bananas but i recently learned some fun banana tricks.

    if you grab a banana by both ends and pull hard it will break in half. we enjoyed the trick here in my house, lol. also if you have a softer banana peel it from the opposite end and it wont smush up.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    Guess who will be washing her bananas from now on? I say, why take a chance when it's so simple.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Well, I'll first be practical, I don't think I've ever eaten a banana right BEFORE my lunch. But I guess that's not the point. Any fruit that I will be eating the skin, I always wash, but Deedee, if you only knew how much rat feces and urine that the average American eats, you wouldn't worry about urine it on the skin anyway. Essentially Urine is sterile anyway, what you want to worry about is the feces, that's what carries the bad stuff. The only thing you can get from rat urine (or any animal for that matter ) is leptospirosis, and generally, the leptospirosis dies when the urine drys, it doesn't last very long in open air (a couple of minutes). Your more likely to get lepto from splashing in a puddle that a diseased rat peed into than from a banana that was peed on, on a cargo ship, FAAAAR more likely, and generally it's not a highly dangerous disease anyway (usually minor aches and chills, that goes away on their own).

    You're far more likely to get the flu from the person next to you in the grocery store when you bought the banana's then from anything ON the bananas (or most fruits).

    So I mean, YES wash fruit and anything consumed raw or unheated past 170 degrees Fahrenheit (the temp at which most bacteria dies), but don't obsess about it.
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
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    It would never occur to me to wash a banana. I'm not even sure it would even do any good.

    I've been eating bananas for probably 32 years now (at least) and I haven't had any problems yet. :)

    I concur, I don't eat the peel though.:laugh:

    I do understand your food concerns but I know I can't watch every video on every thing around us or it will stop me from eating and that's as bad for me as eating to much. So I do appreciate you sharing but it won't be something I watch. I got to caught up in watching egg videos, stopped eating them right after (oh I eat them now though, the video is still tucked in my mind though..gah), same with beef, all the other foods we eat.

    I think it's very good to be informed on what goes on around us but it can also make one paranoid too. I don't mean that statement to reflect you but ppl in general and I include myself in that.

    Again I do understand your concern. But I peel my banana and wash my hands before eating food and during and after preparing it, (gets a bit crazy how many times we have to wash to feel ok about eating certain things...but I do it anyway if it's something that bugs me in particular)

    I say if you feel more comfy rinse it off before peeling it but then you'd want to wash your hands again I imagine since you touched the peel? See it never ends...plus from other studies water doesn't really do as much as we think as they suggest scrugging veggies, apples and such so.

    It's never ending, be interesting to see the input......oh look I see Banks commented, can't wait to read :):) Always love your posts Banks, never know quite whats coming (meant in a good way!!):tongue:

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