There are a lot of reasons to wash your fruits and vegetables before eating them. But how bad is it if you forget?

You’ve just gotten home from the grocery store with some fresh strawberries. You set them down in the kitchen and walk away for a moment, only to come back and find your kids have already started eating the berries — without washing them first. Suddenly, headlines about E. coli and salmonella pop into your head. Are they doomed to get sick? Just how bad is it to skip washing your produce? And do you really need to wash all fruits and veggies?

Here's what experts say about why we make such a big deal about washing produce — and the best ways to do it.

Should you always wash your produce?

Ideally, yes. “As long as you're using potable (drinkable) water, it's always wise to wash fruits and vegetables before eating them,” Sandra Eskin, CEO of Stop Foodborne Illness, tells Yahoo Life. “Even if they appear clean, they may still carry dirt, bacteria or residues.”

Melissa Vaccaro, senior food safety program specialist for the National Environmental Health Association, adds that unless your produce is packaged with a pre-washed label, the assumption is that the consumer should wash it. "This would apply to all produce, even if you are not eating the peel or rind,” she tells Yahoo Life.

The only exception to this? Bananas. That’s because you can usually peel a banana without really touching the inside. But for most other produce, the act of peeling or cutting can cause contamination in the edible parts. For example, Eskin points to a case in which cantaloupes were linked to a salmonella outbreak when bacteria from the soil contaminated the rind.

How bad is it if we forget to wash our produce?

Experts agree that while a couple bites of unwashed fruit probably won’t make you sick every time, it does increase your odds of ingesting microorganisms that can make you seriously ill.

“These can range from Staphylococcus aureus [staph], which is ubiquitous, to E. coli from poor farming practices,” says food scientist Bryan Quoc Le. “Natural dirt and debris increase these risks because they harbor microbes much more than just the surfaces of foods."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly half of all food-borne illnesses can be attributed to produce, with leafy vegetables the biggest culprit. Additionally, about 46% of those illnesses were caused by norovirus. Vaccaro says additional pathogens associated with produce outbreaks include Listeria monocytogenes, cyclospora, the hepatitis A virus and campylobacter.

Eskin says sprouts, in particular, pose a higher risk for bacteria like salmonella and E. coli. While washing helps, she says the safest way to consume them is by cooking them thoroughly.

“These findings do not mean that you should not eat produce but instead confirm that we must take care with handling and consuming our produce,” adds Vaccaro.

What about pesticides?

Vaccaro says that produce grown in the U.S. is considered safer than some imports due to stricter regulations, better enforcement and more frequent testing. She points to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2023 annual summary report of their Pesticide Data Program, which revealed that over 99% of samples tested had residues below the tolerances established by the EPA, with 38.8% having no detectable residue.

"Pesticide residues are certainly a concern, but less so since almost all produce is given a preliminary wash after harvest to remove the majority of dirt and debris," Quoc Le says.

But that doesn’t mean you won’t be ingesting some residue now and again, including from imported produce. Concerned consumers can opt to buy organic when choosing certain fruits and veggies — especially spinach, grapes and others included in the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) "Dirty Dozen," aka produce shown to carry the most pesticide residue. They can also avoid or replace certain fruits and veggies altogether, though our experts mostly suggest simply eating a variety of properly washed fruits and veggies.

Why else should you consider washing fruits and veggies?

Food scientist Abbey Thiel says she's less concerned about pesticide exposure and more motivated by the issue of food waste in the U.S., fueled in part by Americans letting their fruits and vegetables go bad. By washing her produce, she reduces the amount of spoilage bacteria and can extend the shelf life of her fruits and vegetables.

"This would be my main reason to tell people to wash and then dry their fresh produce,” Thiel tells Yahoo Life.

What is the proper way to wash your fruits and veggies?

Here are a few tips from our experts on best produce-washing practices:

• Always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds prior to washing, cutting or peeling your produce

• Use cold water to rinse all produce for just a few seconds

• Scrub root vegetables and other thick-skinned produce (like melons and cucumbers) with a soft vegetable brush to reduce exposure to bacteria (or at least rub them thoroughly with your hands)

• To clean leafy greens, submerge them in water, drain and rinse

• Rinse berries using a colander

If you want to be more thorough, you can use either of these DIY cleansers:

• 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 2 cups of water, soak for 10-15 minutes, then rinse

• 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water, soak for 5-10 minutes, then rinse

If you're washing your produce with the intent of helping it last longer, do it sooner rather than later. “To reduce the number of spoilage microorganisms, I would wash fresh produce right after purchasing it,” says Thiel. “This will give you longer to eat your fresh fruits and vegetables.”

However, she and other experts say the most important part is to thoroughly dry your produce after washing. Skip drying them out properly, and your fruits and veggies will get wilted, mushy and moldy much faster. Experts also recommend storing all washed produce in a breathable container with a dry paper towel to reduce moisture buildup.

“If you wash greens ahead of time, spin them dry and store them with a dry paper towel to reduce moisture buildup," Thiel adds.

There are a couple of exceptions, though. Quoc Le says raspberries and mushrooms can easily get waterlogged, so it’s best to wash these just before eating.

What else should we consider?

Experts agree that commercially made produce washes aren’t really any more effective at cleaning than plain tap water. Vaccaro says if you’re worried about waxes or extra residue, DIY produce washes like the ones above are just fine. And while some have made the mistake of using soap to wash their produce during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, food safety experts say this is a big no-no, as is the use of bleach.