Unwashed organics

Do you think it's okay to eat organic produce without washing it?  I typically do wash it, but I just realized I forgot to wash the green beans I'm munching on.  I have no access to a sink, and I am hungry!  Is it okay that I'm eating them?

I figured there is no pesticide residue, and anything too sinister would probably not come off with a quick rinse, anyway.

What do you think?

You'll live!

Since they don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizers on organic food they use organic fertilizers instead. This means poop.

So it's especially important to wash organic produce or you have a much higher chance or getting E. coli or salmonella since both these bacteria are primarily found in poop. The closer the produce grows near the ground, the higher the chance of contamination (ie, mushrooms vs apples). So especially if you are eating veggies or eating the skin or peel of the produce you should make sure it's adequately washed.

Actually there is a list of approved pesticides and fertilisers that can be used and still qualify a product as organic.  But you're right about the poop...  :-)  From the time of picking, your beans will have probably travelled on a tractor trailer, through a packhouse, out on a truck to a wholesale market.... etc... pesticides aside it's worth washing off the dust and detritis!

Thanks all.  Hopefully I won't die this time (or get a poo-borne disease, or whatever), and next time I'll make sure they're washed!

Let's not forget all the hands that are touching them....  and where those hand were moments before touching the food....  The many places on the human body that can become itchy in a day....  but I am sure you'll be fine this one time.  Check in tomorrow so we are sure you made it.. :)

Personally, I'd be more worried about all the hands touching them and people sneezing on them than than manure in the fertilizer. There are a bunch of regulations governing animal excrement and its use on food crops. But you'll probably be fine.

Well, I didn't die...and I'll try to be better about washing all my produce right away from now on!