Washing fruit before you eat it is crucial as even organic options could be covered in harmful pesticides, bacteria and dirt.
Giving your fresh berries a good rinse or a light scrub can significantly reduce health risks. But if you aren’t doing it correctly, you could end up making good food go to waste.
James Bok, a food and lifestyle influencer from Toronto, Canada, claims that washing your fruit correctly could prolong their self-life so that they don’t rot before you have a chance to eat them. But a soak in just water isn’t going to cut it.
In a video, which has gained more than 6,700 likes, he explained: “Honestly, this water is disgusting. You guys have to start washing your fruit first.
“Get a strainer, pour all your berries in and fill it up with four cups of water and two teaspoons of baking soda. Then let it soak for 15 minutes.”
He went on to say that he recommends adding either baking soda or white vinegar to the bowl as it is more effective at removing pesticides. But he learned the hard way not to use both products at the same time.
He added: “I actually used to use both baking soda and vinegar to wash my fruit. And I love seeing the baking soda and vinegar caused that reaction, my fruit sizzling. That being said, I realized that the bubbling reaction was actually neutralising both ingredients, so the cleaning process became ineffective.
“I would recommend either using baking soda or vinegar, not both. After cleaning your fruit, pat dry thoroughly with a paper towel so your berries don’t mold and last for weeks.”
Both solutions are relatively cheap to do at home too. You can buy baking soda from Asda for just 65p.
A bottle of white vinegar is just £1.09. But since the amounts you need for each wash are minimal, you’d get plenty of washed fruit out of each one.
TikTok users were amazed too as they took to the comments vowing to try it out for themselves. One user said: ” I just started doing this.”
Another added: “Very useful bro,” while a third commented: “Thanks for the idea, it helped.” Meanwhile, a fourth user penned: “You don’t need to soak for 15 mins, just a couple of mins and it’s fine. If you live that long it’s gonna start losing sweetness and color hence the dirty ass water.”
