So we are always told to wash our fruits and veggies prior to eating them to get rid of bacteria, pesticides, whatever. Assuming my romaine lettuce was contaminated with e. Coli or Listeria or something, how does rinsing the leaves under cold water for a few seconds remove all that bacteria? Especially because we are told to wash our hands with soap AND water, that water alone will not cut it?? Why is plain old water enough for veggies but not for our hands?
In: Biology
soap also has the double purpose of helping to remove oils, which naturally are produced by skin and trap some gunk to a degree, and us humans frequently work with oils in a lot of ways, such as oils on metals or machines, oils in foods, etc. Typically most fruits and veggies are not oily at all on the surface, so anything stuck to them is more easily washed off. But its not a guarantee for foodborne illness, which is why food safety is so strict even for fruits and veggies, and why there are food poisonings and recalls for fruits and veggies every year.
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