A healthy diet, whether raw or not, includes lots of fruits and vegetables. The New York Times recently carried an article about the best way to wash your produce. From "The Claim: A Soap-and-Water Rinse Gets Produce Cleanest":
The prospect of ingesting pesticides and other contaminants can make supermarket produce seem less than appetizing. Buying organic lowers the risk, but is no guarantee against food-borne pathogens.
Scientists have found some effective household measures that can eliminate germs and pesticides. The simplest? Rinsing with tap water, which works as well as a mild soap solution or fruit and vegetable washes.
In studies at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in 2000, for example, scientists compared pesticide removal methods on 196 samples of lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes. Some were rinsed under tap water for a minute; others were treated with either a 1 percent solution of Palmolive or a fruit and vegetable wash. Tap water “significantly reduced” residues of 9 of 12 pesticides, and it worked as well as soap and wash products, the studies found.
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The writer also says that the best way to remove micro-organisms from produce is to use a vinegar solution. Unfortunately, the article does not say what concentrate of vinegar in water, but the research abstract linked to says 10%.
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