Time For Some Reader Participation

Someone recently tried to convince me that washing an orange or clementine before peeling it to eat was akin to washing a banana peel before eating the banana. I personally do not wash my banana peel. But everyone is different.

So I ask you:

1. How many of you readers (and Lurkers, I mean you too!!) wash the orange or clementine or grapefruit (or whatever your choice citrus fruit happens to be) prior to eating that fruit, and how many of you do not?

2. And, are there any banana peel-washers out there?

8 Replies to “Time For Some Reader Participation”

  1. I think that someone has a good point … why wash the fruit off if you aren’t going to eat the peel?? I do NOT rinse bananas, but I do rinse clementines, oranges, pears, apples, cherries, grapes, etc. Clementines are my favorite!! Do you rinse watermelon before you slice it??

    What is one *supposed* to do?

  2. I wash, citrus, melons, kiwi, etc. before peeling but not bananas.

    I always thought that since the knife (or your fingers) touched the peel or rind and plowed right through and touched the fruit flesh that you were going to eat, I did not want to transfer the dirt from the outside to the inside.

    In eating a banana you do not need to touch the fruit flesh with your hands while eating and therefore no contamination occurs.

    Okay, have I solidified my status as a bit neurotic? 🙂

  3. I personally parboil every piece of fruit to sterilize it before eating it. This gets a bit tedious when eating raisins, and poses a challenge for the aforementioned watermelons, but that’s the price you pay for fighting germs…

    In truth, I do exactly what Stephanie mentioned with regard to washing anything I’m going to cut into or through. I draw the line at washing watermelons though. That’s what white blood cells are for, eh?

  4. I always wash my clememtines, etc. before eating because my mother always told me: “wash it, you never know where it’s been!” However I have never in my life washed a banana before consuming it!

  5. I always wash my clememtines, etc. before eating because my mother always told me: “wash it, you never know where it’s been!” However I have never in my life washed a banana before consuming it!

  6. I am all for washing everything. Just a quick rinse with a squirt of diluted Basic-H. I have imaginings of “field conditions” that are not pleasant (unsanitary). Not sure where such thoughts come from……if I read something or dreamed it, but they are in my head and are enough to make me want to wash it all. It makes me feel better.

  7. I don’t wash oranges or grapefruit. Actually can’t say I’ve ever even seen anyone wash one unless it had something obviously disgusting on it. I guess that means I was raised by folks similar to “someone”.

    On a prior post… I must say this GTWD of two finds House of Horne very entertaining! Since I love photos, I’ll second Andrew’s comment that more photos spread through the postings would be a benefit.

    Angie’s DomiToes Post is one of my alltime favorites:
    http://dishmans.net/blog/angie/archive/2005_05.html

  8. In Liberia, all vegetables have to be washed AND bleached before eating. This may not remove the E Coli bacteria, but if you can’t handle a few billion of those in your daily diet you won’t last long in Liberia.

    But fruit? Whoever heard of WASHING fruit? You PEEL fruit.

    Now, the best way to consume an orange involves a pretty extensive ritual. First you step all over it to break it apart inside and release the juice. Then you get a really sharp knife and scrape the outer peel away, leaving just the white–epspecially at one end. The final step of preparation is cutting a hole at that end.

    To consume, first you suck all the juice out through the hole. You may have to squeeze to get it all. Then, you turn the whole orange inside out and nibble the pulp loose from the white.

    If you’re wierd, you at last eat the white. Which probably isn’t white anymore, since neither you nor the person who prepared the orange washed their hands first.

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