Food Safety Focus (152nd Issue, March 2019) – Food Incident Highlight

How to Wash Fruits before Eating?

Recently, there were discussions on how to wash fruits before eating. Fruit should be washed before consumption as it can help to remove the dusts, dirt and germs from the surface of the fruit. However, some people wonder whether it is worthwhile to wash fruits with cleaning agents or handwash. National authorities of some overseas countries like the United States, Canada and Singapore have stated that there is no need to use cleaning agent or handwash in the fruit cleaning process.

To effectively clean the fruits, the public is advised to wash them thoroughly with clean running water, a measure also recommended by the World Health Organization. In addition, rinsing the fruit before peeling can avoid dirt and germ from transferring from the knife onto the fruit. Fruits with hard and rough surfaces (e.g. rockmelons) can be scrubbed with a clean brush.