Food Safety Facts

University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Bulletin #4336

Best Ways to Wash Fruits and Vegetables

Take a quick stroll through the produce section of your local supermarket. You will most likely see fruit and vegetable washes on display. Why are supermarkets selling these washes?

We hear that eating a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables will keep us healthy. Research has shown that eating lots of fresh produce reduces the risk of some cancers and other diseases. Due to promotions such as the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s 5 A Day The Color Way campaign, people in the U.S. eat more fruits and vegetables than they used to. This is good for public health. On the other hand, we also hear safety warnings about raw fruits and vegetables. News reports have linked salmonella outbreaks with alfalfa and other sprouts. Fruits and vegetables are often eaten raw, without cooking to destroy pathogens. Thus they are potential sources of food-borne illness. People need to know how to keep raw fruits and vegetables safe to eat.

According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), you should wash raw fruits and vegetables very well before you peel, cut, eat, or cook with them. Chemical rinses and other treatments for washing raw produce—usually called fruit and vegetable washes—are now being sold. They are often advertised as the best way to keep fresh fruits and vegetables safe in the home. But are these washes effective?

In the fruit and vegetable product industry, chlorine is commonly used to remove microbes such as bacteria and mold from produce. In the home, a water wash, either with or without the help of a produce brush, is typically used to clean fruits and vegetables. So how do water washes hold up to the new “fruit and veggie” washes?

In the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine, researchers tested three commercial wash treatments:

• Fit® (Proctor & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH)
• Ozone Water Purifier XT-301 (Air-Zone Inc., Leesburg, VA)
• J0-4 Multi-Functional Food Sterilizer (Indoor Purification Systems, Layton, UT)

All three products were tested according to product directions. We used lowbush blueberries as the produce. A water wash was also tested, using blueberries soaked in distilled water for one to two minutes. Here are the results:

• Fit® washes got rid of roughly the same amount of microbes as distilled water. Both Fit® and distilled water reduced the level of residual pesticides compared to the unwashed samples.
• Both ozone systems—the Ozone Water Purifier XT-301 and the J0-4 Multi-Functional Food Sterilizer—removed microbes from the blueberries. However, the distilled water wash was more effective than either of the ozone washes.

What are the best ways to keep raw fruits and vegetables safe?

• Wash your hands before preparing food.
• Because some produce washes are costly, we advise consumers to wash fresh fruits and vegetables with distilled water. Soak all produce for one to two minutes to reduce the risk of food-borne illness.
• Why use distilled water? Because distilled or bottled water has been filtered and purified to remove contaminants.
• For produce with thick skin, use a vegetable brush to help wash away hard-to-remove microbes.
• Some produce should not be soaked in water. Put fragile produce in a colander and spray it with distilled water.
• Clean your counter top, cutting boards, and utensils after peeling produce and before further cutting. Bacteria from the outside of raw produce can be transferred to the inside when it is cut or peeled. Wash kitchen surfaces and utensils with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item.
• Eating on the run? Fill a spray bottle with distilled water and use it to wash apples and other fruits.
• Don’t forget that homegrown fruits and vegetables should also be well washed.

Help prevent food-borne illness from striking you and your family. Wash fruits and vegetables before you eat them.

Developed by Kristi Crowe, Alfred Bushway, and Mahmoud El-Begearmi, University of Maine Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Cooperative Extension.
Editing: Kyle McCaskill
Design: Tracey Nelson
Online design: Linda Reed

For more information about food safety, call USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-800-535-4555 or contact your University of Maine Cooperative Extension county office.

Published and distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Land Grant University of the state of Maine and the U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Cooperative Extension and other agencies of the U.S.D.A. provide equal opportunities in programs and employment. © 2004

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