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Baby Carrots

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Kitty4670
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23 Sep 2023, 10:13 pm

Do you need to wash baby carrots?



bee33
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23 Sep 2023, 10:32 pm

I wash all produce. So I would say yes.

"Baby" carrot are just carrots that were misshapen so they have been ground down to a more pleasing shape, which means their surface hasn't been in contact with dirt, usually. So you might be able to not wash them, but I would.



ToughDiamond
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24 Sep 2023, 1:56 pm

Depends on the carrots. I expect some of them are pre-washed. If not I'd wash them. I get round the problem by using shredded carrots which aren't supposed to need washing.



goldfish21
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26 Sep 2023, 12:29 pm

If they’re already washed the bag they come in will usually say so right on it.

The problem isn’t dirt - it’s totally fine, safe, and even beneficial to your health to pick a carrot right out of the ground and eat it. The problem is herbicides and pesticides that get sprayed all over crops - it’s the glyphosate you want to wash off of your gmo veggies before eating so it doesn’t destroy your intestinal lining and enteric nervous system connections.


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bee33
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26 Sep 2023, 4:57 pm

goldfish21 wrote:
If they’re already washed the bag they come in will usually say so right on it.

The problem isn’t dirt - it’s totally fine, safe, and even beneficial to your health to pick a carrot right out of the ground and eat it. The problem is herbicides and pesticides that get sprayed all over crops - it’s the glyphosate you want to wash off of your gmo veggies before eating so it doesn’t destroy your intestinal lining and enteric nervous system connections.

You should definitely avoid eating dirt. You can accidentally eat the eggs of a tapeworm or other parasitic worm that way, and a number of other unwanted organisms.

Glyphosate and other pesticides and herbicides are definitely the main reason to wash veggies, but they are not sprayed underground, so in the case of carrots it's not really an issue. (Except that they could have contaminated the dirt... :))



goldfish21
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26 Sep 2023, 5:08 pm

We don’t need to eat fistfuls of dirt, but a little isn’t a problem.

In fact, toddlers who aren’t exposed to soil, touching it, ingesting it, grow up with incomplete immune systems. We’re supposed to interact with soil bacterias and organisms from a young age.

Sterilizing everything is bad for human health. We’re symbiotic organisms made up of Billions/Trillions of bacteria cells that make us function, after all. We’re a part of Life and shouldn’t seek to segregate ourselves from the rest of Life as it’s only to our detriment.


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bee33
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26 Sep 2023, 8:51 pm

goldfish21 wrote:
We don’t need to eat fistfuls of dirt, but a little isn’t a problem.

In fact, toddlers who aren’t exposed to soil, touching it, ingesting it, grow up with incomplete immune systems. We’re supposed to interact with soil bacterias and organisms from a young age.

Sterilizing everything is bad for human health. We’re symbiotic organisms made up of Billions/Trillions of bacteria cells that make us function, after all. We’re a part of Life and shouldn’t seek to segregate ourselves from the rest of Life as it’s only to our detriment.
I do agree with this. Exposure to some level of microorganisms that are found in dirt is beneficial, especially while children are developing their immune systems. It's a matter of degree. Since you are getting some harmful organisms along with beneficial ones, it's best to try to limit ingestion to trace amounts, while not eliminating it altogether with the overuse of disinfectants.



Kitty4670
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28 Sep 2023, 11:29 pm

goldfish21 wrote:
If they’re already washed the bag they come in will usually say so right on it.

The problem isn’t dirt - it’s totally fine, safe, and even beneficial to your health to pick a carrot right out of the ground and eat it. The problem is herbicides and pesticides that get sprayed all over crops - it’s the glyphosate you want to wash off of your gmo veggies before eating so it doesn’t destroy your intestinal lining and enteric nervous system connections.


So you can eat carrots out of the bags? Is carrots really good for eyes? When I was living in my childhood house, my dad grew fruit & vegetables in the backyard, one of the things he grew were cherry tomatoes, I used to pick them & eat them right away. I wish I can grow vegetables.



lostonearth35
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29 Sep 2023, 12:56 pm

As a small child I probably ate handfuls of dirt, and frequently picked up bugs and worms to play with. Which is probably why I don't need to live in a bubble like the younglings very likely will in a few years.

But I do wash off my vegetables, including baby cut carrots. Too bad if they were really tampered with, rinsing with ordinary water wouldn't be enough.



DanielW
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29 Sep 2023, 1:30 pm

Even if you do or do not wash them, "baby carrots" aren't young carrots. They are often on the verge being too old, or the shaved down bits of carrots that are too ugly or blemished to sell. Old or blemished carrots go through a shaving machine and become "baby carrots"

Rather like rotisserie chickens, that start out as the chickens that don't sell and can no longer be sold as fresh. But wash them, bine them and season the heck out of them and suddenly people will pay even more for them. Pretty neat trick :-)