Why are mushrooms safe for everyone to touch at the supermarket?
Food safety laws generally apply to most food you can touch with your hands at supermarkets - such as loose leaf spinach, bread rolls in the bakery, and anything at the deli. When handling these foods, you need to use tongs (or wear food safety gloves).
But mushrooms seem to be 'safe' for everyone to touch with their hands. There are never tongs near them (at least at any supermarket I've seen) and everyone uses their hands.
Why is this? What makes mushrooms special?
Best Answer
A major reason produce can be sold loose without tongs is that you're supposed to wash it just before preparing it anyway. You couldn't wash your baked goods. How effective this washing is, is of course another matter now we don't have to wash the mud off and a token rinse is probably typical.
Some produce, including mushrooms but also strawberries etc., could easily be damaged by tongs anyway.
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Can you touch raw mushrooms?
When handling these foods, you need to use tongs (or wear food safety gloves). But mushrooms seem to be 'safe' for everyone to touch with their hands. There are never tongs near them (at least at any supermarket I've seen) and everyone uses their hands.Are sliced mushrooms clean?
Most of the time, pre-sliced mushrooms at the store will say they've been washed already, but if you see some dirt, you may want to clean again. To clean sliced mushrooms, give them a shake in a colander to loosen any dirt, then give them a quick rinse just before you're ready to cook.Can you eat mushrooms without washing?
In most cases, no. Much like the theories that even a smidge of soap will ruin cast iron or that steaks will spew juices when poked with a fork, the rule that mushrooms should never be washed simply doesn't hold up to testing.How can you tell if a mushroom is poisonous?
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Answer 2
There isn't anything special, there is no reason they should be treated any differently than other exposed and handled foods. It's not the food that is dangerous, it's the human based disease that is spread by food handling that is the issue.
I don't advocate gloves in food handling, I advocate good hand washing. Gloves make people sloppy and I think it makes contamination worse than without.
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