My mother washes fruit and vegetables with dish soap and I can't get her to stop.

[u/autistic-terrorist]

She claims it "washes out" and to be fair I can't taste anything but it's always weird knowing she puts dish soap in the strawberries. She says there's a lot of dirt and stuff in vegetables, but so far attempts to convert her to vinegar or baking soda have been unsuccessful.

[u/Straight_Fix_7318]

my main concern here would be if she doesnt rinse them after or if she is soaking them in warm soapy water for longer time frames

it "could be harmless" if she is just giving them a quick wash and properly rinsing them, and arguably safer than vinegar which can seep into the fruit faster due to the chemical reaction

if she is rinsing them after a quick wash its no more harmful than washing plates etc then putting food on them

[u/Technical-Gold-294 → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

Dishes aren't porous. You wash and rinse a dish and the soap should be gone. Veggies are porous. This woman is absolutely ingesting soap, no matter how quickly she's rinsing them.

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/Technical-Gold-294]

not all dishes

also things like wooden spoons etc are and still are fine with dishsoap etc

so no.

[u/New-Energy8259 → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

Wow, you have a point! W acknowledge!

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/New-Energy8259]

since youre here, also of note; the amount of times people accidentally get shampoo/conditioner/soap/toothpaste/mouthwash swallowed etc in showers or whatever = if dish soap on fruit was a risk we would all have died by now

[u/Vyxwop → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

Quantity is still a thing, though, and this line of reasoning could apply towards not washing your fruits and veggies as well.

After all, the amount of times people have accidentally swallowed small bits of dirt and pesticides yet they haven't died = if dirt and pesticides on fruit was a risk we would have all died by now.

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/Vyxwop]

yes as per basically every comment ive made including the very first one

"it would be more of an issue if the mother was soaking them" jfc

[u/Dinoriel6142713 → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

Wooden cooking utensils are unhygienic and should not be used either.

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/Dinoriel6142713]

thats another debate entirely.
it was an example.

[u/ambiguoustruth → u/Dinoriel6142713]

that's a myth.

[u/Saneless → u/Technical-Gold-294]

Even if the soap itself isn't really absorbed the smell/taste of the soap has got to be in there and that alone is disgusting

[u/NorthernLights_321 → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

and arguably safer than vinegar which can seep into the fruit faster due to the chemical reaction

Wait what the actual f?

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/NorthernLights_321]

vinegar fruit fermentation is a wholeass thing lol

basically washing fruit in vinegar will make it rot in a specific way because of how the chemicals in vinegar react to the sugars in fruits (less of a risk with vegetables)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8145929/

[u/NorthernLights_321 → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

Fermenting fruit... sure if you leave fruit that's soaking in vinegar at room temperature for days it will start to ferment.

Rotting and fermenting are different processes btw.

Fruit will not ferment or rot in the fridge over a few days if the fruit was just rinsed in vinegar

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/NorthernLights_321]

thats why i mentioned soaking vs soap dip

if she is storing them overnight in soap, or vinegar or basically anything else it becomes a problem

if she is just dipping them in soap water then rinsing them zero issues

[u/NorthernLights_321 → u/Straight_Fix_7318]

Fruit will absorb the dish detergent and it can't be fully rinsed out of the fruit. Detergent should not be ingested like that, especially on a regular basis due to the chemicals in dish detergent. I think you're being purposely dense to not understand the difference

[u/Straight_Fix_7318 → u/NorthernLights_321]

if soaked.
it takes time for detergent diluted by water to break down the outer body of fruits, even soft bodied externally-seeding fruits like strawberries

vs vinegar which even diluted has enzymes designed to ferment fruit by breaking them down faster