The Importance of Cleaning Your Veggies Before Eating Them

As one of the healthiest groups of foods you can eat, vegetables are known for their high nutritional value and unique flavor profile. While many kids and adults alike try to shy away from eating them, as long as you cook them right, you can make any vegetable taste quite good. But, as with any other type of food, it’s always important to prepare them properly before cooking. If you fail to do this, you may end up with an upset stomach or worse.
So, if you’re making a vegetable dish soon, here’s why you should always clean your vegetables before cooking and eating them.
WHY YOU SHOULD CLEAN YOUR VEGETABLES
It gets rid of debris
One of the most important things to remember when buying vegetables is that those vegetables took a long journey to get where they are right now. Unless it’s local produce, the vegetables may have come from another city, province, or even country from across the globe. And during the long journey, it’s not surprising for the vegetables to gather a bit of dirt, dust, or debris along the way. Even if some establishments attempt to do a bit of cleaning, you may still end up with a vegetable that just isn’t fit for raw consumption.
As such, washing your vegetables clean will guarantee that you can get rid of any particles that may have stuck to your food. The last thing you’d want is for the dish to contain those same dirt and dust particles, after all.
It removes germs
The term “germ” refers to a group of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and even viruses. These are small threats that can cause you sickness if you ingest them and allow them to enter your body. People often get sick due to germs, and it’s not exactly uncommon to spread germ sickness from one person to another. But why does this matter when it comes to vegetables? Simple — because vegetables can carry germs, too.
Germs don’t simply die out when they’re not inside a living organism. In fact, many germs can live for quite some time outside, and they can spread simply by rubbing two surfaces against each other. This means that the vegetables that you buy in the supermarket could very easily have gotten germs on them as they were shipped to where you are right now. And even if they weren’t, a customer that came before you may have accidentally sneezed all over the food or done some similar action to spread germs that way instead.
Because it’s hard to tell where the germs came from, as well as whether or not they’re even on your vegetables, the safest route would simply be to remove the germs by giving the vegetables a good wash. With the help of veggie wash, you can remove any harmful germs, chemicals, and debris. Even if you don’t have a veggie wash at home, you can boil the vegetables after washing them or cook them on a pan or skillet, using the heat to kill the germs as you prepare the meal. It never hurts to be too careful when it comes to preparing vegetables.