A particularly quirky use of a dishwasher that sees a pretty unusual item being washed in the appliance has been doing the rounds on social media and has left most people totally baffled
The internet is pretty much filled to the brim with weird and wonderful life hacks – but not all of them are created equally. Regularly you will come across a cleaning hack, or cooking tip in your feed that is an absolute game changer and actually helps you revolutionise your daily routines, but sometimes the so-called hack will leave you simply scratching your head and wondering why anyone ever tried it out in the first place.
This particular dishwasher “hack” has been doing the rounds on social media, but it has left a lot of people absolutely baffled, and it’s been seen by so many that experts have even had to issue warnings making it clear it isn’t something that people should be trying at home.
This hack has been posted a few times on TikTok, by various users, who have shown that their method for cleaning their fresh fruit and vegetables once they bring them home from the shops is by putting them inside their dishwashers and running a cycle – usually a cold one. One user, Lara – @larad_official – posted a video of her mum popping all manner of fruit and veggies into the dishwasher to wash them, and it started a pretty heated debate. Lara was pretty confused by what her mum was up to, but her mum claimed “No, it can clean my vegetable and fruit with vinegar. I think I feel more clean because so many people are touching [the food].”
However, experts have warned that however tempted you are to outsource washing your fruit and vegetables to your dishwasher, this is one you should categorically swerve. The Food and Drug Association (FDA) in the US has reportedly said that this is fundamentally an unsafe way to wash your fresh produce. “The FDA only recommends washing produce thoroughly under running water,” a spokesperson has said, per Tyla.
“The main concern is the introduction of residual chemical contaminants from detergents and rinse aids into the pores and natural crevices of the produce.” So washing your fruit and vegetables could mean you end up ingesting all sorts of chemicals that are not suitable for human consumption and no matter what your TikTok feed tells you, make sure you clean your produce under cold water, and if you want to go the extra mile to clean firmer veggies, you can grab a clean brush to help you on your way.
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