Should You Be Washing Your Vegetables in the Dishwasher?

We all know dishwashers are a godsend for cleaning pots and pans with less effort, but now Tiktok is saying we should add produce to that list: A video went viral of a mom putting her freshly purchased fruit and vegetables into the dishwasher with vinegar to clean them. Her daughter, who's filming, asks if this is normal, to which her mom replies, "It's normal for everyone, believe me." She was proven wrong in the comment section.

While some users had heard of her hack, many others expressed some all-too-relatable confusion. But are we missing out? Should we be washing our produce in the dishwasher? Here's what an expert had to say. Is It Safe to Wash Produce In the Dishwasher? "It's probably not unsafe to put the produce in the dishwasher, but I highly doubt it is worth it," says Jennifer C.

Acuff , Ph.D., assistant professor in food safety and microbiology at the University of Arkansas' System Division of Agriculture.

Now, washing produce before you eat it definitely is important, she says. Fruit and vegetables are grown in the open environment where pathogens from wildlife and livestock are carried by the wind, soil, and other methods. That means the fruits and vegetables you bring home from the store or the farmstand may potentially be not only dirty still, but also contaminated with foodborne pathogens , like salmonella or pathogenic E.

coli , that can cause illness. "Washing produce removes dirt as well as the associated pathogens if they're present," Dr. Acuff explains.