This Viral TikTok Suggests Washing Produce In The Dishwasher — Don’t Do It

Between all the shopping, slicing, dicing and actual cooking, crafting a healthy dinner every night is both time- and energy-consuming. But a now-viral TikTok hack promises to make this daily chore a bit less exhausting: Instead of rinsing your fresh fruits and veggies by hand, let your dishwasher do the work.

Posted by @larad_official in June, the clip shows the user’s mom loading all three racks of a dishwasher with a medley of fruits and vegetables, including sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, limes, tomatoes and dragon fruit. By using the machine and some vinegar, “I think it’ll feel more clean because so many people touch [the produce],” she said in the clip.

Many commenters called this trick “genius” and a “game changer.” But according to food safety experts, the hack is anything but that.

“Oh my God, don’t do it — please, don’t,” said Dr. Kimberly Baker , director of the Food Systems and Safety Program Team at Clemson University.

Generally, Baker said all produce should be washed immediately before consumption or preparation (think: cutting). Although practices are in place to clean produce as it makes its way from the field to your plate, it still comes in contact with plenty of hands and machines as it’s harvested, processed, packaged and transported. Once it arrives in the grocery store or at the farmers’ market, it’s touched by employees and, often, fellow patrons if it’s not pre-packaged. In turn, there’s a risk of some types of yeasts, molds and pathogens— the latter of which can potentially cause foodborne illness — lingering on the surface of your fruits and veggies.

“There are a lot of places along that path or that system for that produce to become contaminated,” Baker said. “We don’t see