The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1910-08-13
Al. Ways ! WASH fruit
i. BEFORE YOU. EAT II

- :. The London Lancet, always full Of
excellent information, speaks of the
Importance Of washing fruits before
eating. ,.s4 49,.
:; The best fruits TO- eat are. those
with iinedible rinds or skins, because
liz removing these we remove: all in
curious matter, that may have, lodged
on sthe outer surface. Fruits with
skins that are occasionally eaten,
this point of view.. because we are
apt, in Consuming the skin, to get
with it much that is Objectionable;
and fruits with no skins. like most
berries, are worst of ALL These re-
CURE thorough washing. and they sell
dom get it.
The strawberry comes in for
especial mention as follows:
Freshly peeled fruits are prob
ably aseptic, and In this category
may be included such familiar ex-
amples as the apple, pear, peach,
apricot, orange and banana. The
peel in these instances has obviously
no part in the dietetic quality of the
fruit, and few persons, we imagine,
are; tempted to consume the pro-
tective coating; it has no attractive
flavor, and it is commonly tough and
lndigestible. The strawberry, how
ever, has no shield in the shape of a
peel, and it would be very surprising
if the fruit as it reaches the con-
sumner was free from external faint,
considering that it is peculiarly
.:oh IN
little under what conditions the ba-
mana or the orange is picked and
packed, because before these fruits
are consumed they are skinned, and
hence the Impurities due to handling
or to unsanitary packing or environ
ment are to great extent, removed
With the peel, though we say this
with reservations The strawberry
flourishes in a. bed; it is within
splashing distances of the fertilizers
used to encourage it's growth, and
maturity; 1T is packed by hands not
necessarily under sanitary control;
and, lastly, in transit it may easily
encounter surroundings which need
70 archaeological proof to show
them as hygienically Objectionable.
The strawberry should certainly be
washed; the process is simple and
reed not in recognizable degree de-
tract from the highly esteemed char
teristics of the fruit, while the
small attention which washing in
! wolves may likely enough reap a
| great reward in averting a disaster
tc health. This injunction Is not SO
fabsurd or superfluous as some may
think, when it is considered how
liable the strawberry is to. contami-
nation. Most clearly disposed peo-
pie If they visited the strawberry
fields in full process of picking
would soon regard the washing Of
the strawberry before it came to the
table or before they consumed it as
imperative. Apart from the ques.
ttonable Cleanliness. of the picker'<
person, 1t has to be rem ern bered that
the surface of: the: fruit is: liable tc
be sticky, and therefore to hold on
, to any impurity@ with which 1t may
come into contact. Further. the
strawberry's exterior, in bacterioiogi.
cal parlance, affords an excellent nu.
tritive or culture medium for organ.
| isms. Never eat an unwashed
strawberry, is therefore neither alb.
surd nor unsound counsel, and those
who think that to subject the fruit tt
such treatment would spoil its flavor
are invited now, while Strawberries
are. cheap and plentiful to make thu
i experiment"