Cleaning Fresh Fruit and Veggies with a Homemade Veggie Wash

 

 Any fruit or vegetable should be washed before eating and that is even more important when juicing/blending them.  Even if you purchase organic produce, it can become contaminated with harmful bacteria where it is packaged, sold, or in your own home.  

Scrubbing with a vegetable brush under running water is a good way to remove some bacteria; but, the best method and one that removes 98% of the bacteria is a diluted vinegar rinse.This homemade veggie wash works better than the ready made ones and costs much less:

Researchers at the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Tennessee State University tested dilute vinegar against plain water and a commercial product that they purchased at a grocery store.
"We really did not really find the veggie washes effective or necessary," says Sandria Godwin, who oversaw the project.

I measure 1 cup of vinegar, 2 Tablespoons of Kosher salt, and 4 cups of water into a large bowl. 

I then add any fruits and veggies I need to wash and let them soak for about 15 minutes.  After I remove them from the bowl I rinse them well. (Even food you are going to peel or melons you are going to cut, should be washed in this way, as the knife will pass bacteria from the outside peel into the fruit.)  Now they are ready be used to make a raw smoothie.

If you have a large amount of produce to wash; you can clean your sink, make your veggie wash in the sink using vinegar and salt in proportion to the water amount, and then add the produce to the wash.  Remember to clean your sink well after you remove the fruits and veggies as bacteria might be left in the drained sink.