4 October 2026

What's Actually on Your Fruit & Vegetables Before You Wash Them?

We put a lot of thought into the fruit and vegetables we buy. What's fresh? What's in season? Where was it grown?

But there's another part of the journey we don't often think about.

What happens to fresh produce between the farm and our kitchen?

By the time an apple lands in the fruit bowl or a punnet of strawberries makes it into the fridge, it has been grown, harvested, packed, transported, displayed and handled.

There's a lot that can happen along the way.

Dirt and soil

This is probably the most obvious one.

Fresh produce is grown in the real world, not a sterile environment. Soil, dust and other material from growing and harvesting can remain on fruit and vegetables, particularly around stems, leaves and textured surfaces.

Sometimes you can see it. Sometimes you can't.

Washing fresh produce under clean running water is a simple way to help remove dirt and reduce germs that may be present from growing and handling.

Waxes

Have you ever wondered why some apples are particularly shiny?

Many fruits and vegetables naturally produce a waxy outer layer. It helps protect the produce and reduce moisture loss.

Some produce, including certain apples, may also have a food-grade wax coating applied after harvest. This can help replace some of the natural wax lost during washing and handling and help maintain quality during storage and transport.

These coatings are permitted for use on food, but you may still prefer to wash your produce before eating it.

We've written more about this in our guide to why apples can look so shiny and what that wax actually is.

Handling, oils and everyday residue

Think about a single piece of fruit.

Before it reaches your shopping basket, it may have been picked, sorted, packed, transported, unpacked, displayed and handled by several people.

During that journey, fresh produce can come into contact with dirt, oils and other surface residues from growing, packing, transport and handling.

It's a normal part of getting fresh produce from the farm to your home, and a big part of why washing it matters.

Agricultural residues

Agricultural chemicals may be used during growing to help manage pests and diseases.

Depending on the crop and how it has been grown, traces of pesticide residues can remain on fresh produce when it reaches our kitchens.

In Australia, maximum residue limits are set for agricultural chemicals used on food, and produce is monitored to check residues stay within those limits.

Washing fresh produce can help reduce some residues present on the surface, although it won't remove every type of residue.

So, is water enough?

At a minimum, fresh fruit and vegetables should be washed under clean running water before eating or preparing them, including produce with skins or rinds you don't plan to eat.

Some people go further, using vinegar, bicarbonate of soda or a purpose-made fruit and vegetable wash.

Each approach is a little different, and washing can't remove everything that may be present.

What matters is finding a simple and consistent way to wash your produce that works for you.

We've looked at the different options in Is water enough to wash fruit and vegetables?

Why we started thinking about this

Our own background is in agriculture.

Through our work with growers and our research and development into crop protection, we spend a lot of time thinking about fresh produce at the beginning of its journey.

Eventually, we started thinking about the other end too.

What happens when that produce comes through our front door?

It's the strawberries we cut up for the kids, the apples that go into lunchboxes and the vegetables we put on the table at dinner.

We wanted a simple, consistent and predictable way to wash the fresh produce we were bringing into our own homes.

That's how we came up with PLANTAERA.

PLANTAERA is a concentrated, plant-based fruit and vegetable wash formulated specifically for fresh produce. It helps lift everyday dirt, oils, waxes and common pesticide residues from the surface of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Add one pump to one litre of water, wash your produce for around 30 seconds, then rinse with fresh water.

The bottom line

There's a lot that happens between the farm and our kitchen.

Fresh produce can come into contact with soil, dirt, oils and agricultural residues along the way, while some fruits and vegetables naturally have waxy surfaces or may have food-grade waxes applied after harvest.

None of that means we should be eating less fresh produce. It simply gives us another reason to make washing it part of our everyday routine before it reaches the fruit bowl, lunchbox or dinner table.