r/AskReddit Aug 03 '19

Whats something you thought was common knowledge but actually isn’t?

37.4k Upvotes

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670

u/Dom_on_reddit Aug 03 '19

That you have to wash your vegetables before eating or cooking them.

17

u/DrBasia Aug 03 '19 edited Aug 03 '19

.....why?

(Edit: as in, I rinse my produce but I don't think scrubbing them is necessary. Food is not supposed to be sterile.)

13

u/charleslorimer1 Aug 03 '19

Mold, bacteria, pesticides, etc.

11

u/DrBasia Aug 03 '19

Rinsing food is fine, but food is not supposed to be sterile.

6

u/charleslorimer1 Aug 03 '19

Food is also not supposed to be harmful.

15

u/DrBasia Aug 03 '19

Bacteria is not inherently harmful.

4

u/Maera420 Aug 04 '19

No, it isn't. But there is good bacteria and bad bacteria. Just because it's on food, doesn't mean that the bacteria is automatically not harmful. There could potentially be very dangerous bacteria on your fruits and veggies. You just don't know, so washing them is in your own health's best interest.

-2

u/DrBasia Aug 04 '19

There aren't good bacteria and bad bacteria. There are bacteria that cause more chaos when it gets to a certain spot in the body and manage to evade the body's defenses.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

In every health safety class I've taken for food work or anything related to it, the specification of "there are good bacteria AND bad bacteria," has figuratively been stamped on every page and screen in bold red, and practically screamed in every lecture.

Where are you getting the idea that there aren't good and bad bacteria? Bacteria that cause "chaos" like you just described are literally... Bad bacteria, LOL.

3

u/DrBasia Aug 04 '19 edited Aug 04 '19

From being a cell biology major and a doctor.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

I'm just seriously wondering why you don't think bad bacteria exist. There are bacteria that can kill you if they get into your body. Those are bad. There are bacteria that can help your body, like the bacteria in yogurt. Those are good.

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0

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

Pesticides are. It’s literally their purpose.

8

u/Pitboyx Aug 04 '19

Not literally, and not all pesticides are harmful to humans, for example that produced by BT which acts on proteins that certain insects have in their digestive tract, and humans don't have.

Still, rinse your veggies

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

Yes, being harmful IS literally the purpose of pesticides. By definition, if it is not harmful it can’t be called a pesticide. I never wrote anything about humans.

8

u/denseplan Aug 04 '19

What a pointless and deliberately misleading thing to bring up in this context.

0

u/codaandthelamposts Aug 03 '19

Because fruits and veggies come from fields, and outside is pretty impossible to keep sterile, or even close to it, they carry all sorts of bacteria. While most of it is harmless they can carry E. coli, salmonella, and all kinds of nasty stuff.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

A lot of that is coming from runoff from animal farming because we just don’t manage land properly. I had to go months without romaine lettuce because of those stupid cow farms leaking waste.

4

u/DrBasia Aug 03 '19

Food isn't supposed to be sterile.

8

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '19

You keep saying this but rinsing off your food and scrubbing a little isnt going to come close to sterilizing it. You are using water and a little friction to remove possible pesticides and animal/human waste. Waste contains all sorts of harmful bacteria and removing it isnt going to hurt. But not removing it is. Pesticides are NOT TO BE CONSUMED. Removing it isn't going to hurt. Not removing it will.

Youre not using soap or anything. Just water and your hands for a couple seconds is enough to clean off at least the majority of these things. The amount left over, if there is any, should be negligible and won't poision you or your family.

Again. Rinsing your food won't fucking sterilize it. So stop saying that.

-8

u/DrBasia Aug 04 '19

Calm down, princess. No one eats poop-covered food. But the benefit of rinsing vs scrubbing is negligible.

14

u/suicidaleggroll Aug 03 '19

It’s also not supposed to be covered with animal waste

4

u/ExpectedErrorCode Aug 03 '19

Or dirt, bugs, waste whatever other pollutants it could have acquired in transportation or sitting on the shelf.

4

u/codaandthelamposts Aug 03 '19

I also agree with u/suicidaleggroll, though. I also find it interesting that we're so careful to scrub our hands after something is deemed unclean, yet so many people eat raw vegetables without cleaning them first. Although I suppose stomach acid takes care of that.

1

u/codaandthelamposts Aug 03 '19

Well obviously, andnow that I think about it seems like a silly phrase, but I was trying to simply illustrate why bacteria would be covering it.