Do you know which foods you should leave unwashed when you serve them? If you’ve read a number of my food safety posts, you might be surprised that I think you should leave any foods unwashed. But I do.
Many stores and other public places have hand sanitizer freely available for members of the public who enter their buildings. That’s a good thing; it’s smart to avoid spreading germs and illness.
Practicing good hygiene in the kitchen is also smart – keeping hands, kitchen equipment, and preparation areas clean when preparing foods. But did you know that it’s better not to wash or rinse certain foods?
This subject can raise hackles – just check out this post from Michael Ruhlman on whether or not you should rinse chicken. I’m not trying to start a comment war, nor am I claiming that in every instance if you rinse one of these foods, you will make yourself or anyone else sick. I’m simply passing along food safety advice (in most cases, from the agency responsible for it) and the rationale for the advice.
Follow it or don’t. In either event, hopefully you and everyone you cook for will lead a long and healthy life. Like the advice cited in my post on how long you can leave cooked rice unrefrigerated or the one on whether you should refrigerate baked pies, the food safety gurus are simply saying that not following their guidance increases the chances of foodborne illness. Plenty of people don’t follow their recommendations and do just fine.
In fact, when it comes to rinsing poultry, Slate Magazine compiled a list of venerable chefs and food writers who include washing in their cookbook or blogpost instructions and they even cite one of my own gurus, food chemist/expert Harold McGee. The cookbook authors who rinse chicken include everyone from Julia Child to Alton Brown and Marcus Samuelsson.
Some of us are risk takers by nature, when it comes to this and many other topics. Others rinse these foods because that’s the way they have always done it. Still others have rationales for rinsing that make sense, although they may not know the relative risks of rinsing vs. not rinsing. As for me, I’m in the no-rinsing camp. Of course, we can all point to situations in which the experts in one time period are later proved wrong.
The 5 Foods You Should Leave Unwashed (Before Cooking)
- Poultry – fresh or frozen
- Meat (including all types, e.g. beef, lamb, veal, etc.) – fresh or frozen
- Eggs
- Seafood and Fish – fresh or frozen
- Pre-Washed Salads or Other Vegetables
The Rationale for Leaving Them Unwashed
According to the USDA and the FDA, washing poultry, all types of meat, eggs, seafood, and fish is more likely to spread bacteria to your kitchen surfaces (and implements) than it is to help eliminate any bacteria on that food. (Note: The USDA is responsible for poultry, meat and eggs, while the FDA oversees seafood and fish safety. That division of responsibility doesn’t make sense to me, but there it is. The FDA link doesn’t speak precisely to this point about rinsing or washing food. I called the Food and Cosmetic Information Center in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the agency confirmed by telephone that the advice for seafood and fish is the same as that for poultry, meat, and eggs.)
The advice on pre-washed and bagged salads or other vegetables is more mixed. In 2007 a panel from California published an article saying that the risk of cross contamination from re-washing the pre-washed produce outweighed the benefit. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is more circumspect, advising that if you do re-wash the produce, you should take measures to avoid cross contamination. Why is the USDA on the fence about pre-washed produce (when it’s the same issue – cross-contamination) when that agency is so definitive on poultry, meat, and eggs? (It has no jurisdiction over seafood and fish.) – I have no idea and would be interested in hearing from anyone who knows why or has a theory.
Which camp are you in – rinse or not? And why?
Susan | LunaCafe says
Interesting article, Laura, thanks for taking on a tough subject. This subject always makes me laugh, because I grew up around a large country kitchen in which "the old ways" prevailed. I don’t think Grandma EVER refrigerated a pie for instance. She had a cold pantry where lots of cooked foods were stored. (In the winter, it was probably as cold as a refrigerator though.) And her canning methods for vegetables were–in hindsight–probably dangerous. Nevertheless, her twenty grandchildren and their parents thrived. The only times I encountered food poisoning over the years were in restaurants.
I’m glad to know what the authorities think, but I could never NOT rinse chicken/meat/seafood before cooking it. the thought makes me cringe. 🙂
I do keep a spray bottle of diluted bleach near the sink and wash it down afterwards though. I use it on all cutting boards and counter tops as well.
If there was one change I could make it my kitchen though, it would be an additional sink reserved for vegetables. 🙂
Rene B. says
I never wash eggs or chicken, but definitely produce. My personal rationale is that eggs and chicken will get cooked, which should kill most of the bad stuff, while much of my produce is eaten raw. I only refrigerate pies that have eggs in them. (Why on earth anyone would refrigerate an apple pie is beyond me.) Probably not the most scientific approach, but it seems to be working for us, and my kids were always very healthy, so I’ll stick with it for now.
Colleen Levine says
Useful advice, Laura! I thought that they were now encouraging re-washing even pre-washed salad greens, given all the contamination issues of the past several years. You would think they would at least have something definitive to say on the issue. But we eat mostly local greens straight from the farmer, so I’m mainly washing to get rid of actual bugs. Darn organic veggies. 🙂
motherwouldknow says
Colleen, I think they (the scientific and food safety types) can’t decide if re-washing pre-washed greens adds or helps to eliminate contamination. Just goes to show that sometimes there isn’t a single right answer.
Cyrus says
Laura, my better half and I were having EXACTLY this discussion just last week. Even though I’m finding myself on the wrong side of the fence, it’s so helpful to know that it’s better to leave them unwashed. Thank you for this!
motherwouldknow says
Cyrus – Luckily for you (as a couple) there are experts on both sides of that fence, so you can call it a draw if it helps to keep peace in the household. I’m leaving them unwashed for now, but watching to see if the advice changes.
Moe Rubenzahl says
There were some reports that rinsing splashes bacteria around your kitchen. Reporting in Lucky Peach, Harold McGee looked into it and said they had the flimsiest research. He did actual testing. If you rinse like a slob in a torrent of water, you may splash bacteria around. But who does that?
Go ahead and rinse gently, with the food in the bottom of the sink.
Use antiseptic spray (1/2 tsp bleach in a quart of water) to clean up afterwards.
Laura says
Great advice Moe – thanks.
Jenay Putt says
I love seeing ur response cuz u would be surprised my not so smart half does wash poultry and anything else like a mad man and then was not even going to wash his hands b4 grabbing silverware handle then silverware then sliding door handle and so on and was absolutely not going to wash after I about died . so there is many mire idiots like this out there unfortunately
Laura says
oy