Washing vegetables!

[lovelygreenleaves]

I always wash my vegetables in a bowl of water, it saves water and saves me from going back and forth to the sink. My friend recently saw me doing this and was appalled that I didn't give them a final rinse. Should I give them a final rinse or just carry on my own way? They are organic vegetables, the water isn't very dirty afterwards and I cook them well! I'm not sure if I am doing something harmful, or if it's just my friend being conned by the 'get rid of all your bacteria' world.

[MKG]

To be frank, it wouldn't matter a damn if you didn't wash 'em at all - theyre going to be boiled or steamed and that's going to kill anything nasty, even if there are still clumps of soil attached. Your friend is being very typically late 20th century, I'm afraid - and guess when most all-encompassing allergies began to appear.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

I just give most veg a bit of a rinse apart from lettuce which needs a through going through and inspection for slugs and to wash off aphids - though luckily so far this year I haven't really had a problem with either in the lettuce. Sometimes I think I waste so much water washing bugs off frilly leaved things like lettuce (no I DON'T want to eat them!) that it would be cheaper to buy them! But then they'd be floppy and tasteless......

[Peggy Sue]

The ironic thing is organic stuff just might have the risk of the remnants of muck on it and associated bacteria what non-organic stuff hasn't- BUT so what? Unless you are eating it saw and are immunosurpressed or living in a sterile bubble then it's just paranoia. I wash mine in a bowl and only rinse them further/get a second bowl if they are still likely to be gritty from soil (does my fillings no good!)- or indeed the aphids are overwhelming.
What does she think isn't going to get killed in cooking? Is she a veggie because meat will be crawling in bugs before cooking- washed or not!