Woman stuns with 'gross' hack for cleaning fruit and vegetables: 'Please tell me this is satire'

There’s nothing unusual about a Sunday kitchen reset, preparing your home for the week ahead. But one woman has totally stunned the internet with her unusual approach.

Sharing her reset regime on her Instagram account, lifestyle influencer Oksana Pali posted a video washing her fruit and vegetables for the week ahead. But in a somewhat unconventional twist, she skipped the sink and carefully placed them in her dishwasher.

Her video, which has not been liked more than 470,000 times, shows her unpacking her fruit and vegetable shopping before loading some produce items into an empty dishwasher.

She placed the oranges and lemons on the top shelf, while strategically placing the herbs in the cutlery tray and laying the lettuce across the bottom shelf. She went on to add various other items to her dishwasher, including avocados, capsicum, mandarins, apples and cucumbers.

People shocked by dishwasher move: 'Please tell me this is satire'

The unusual method sparked a heated debate online; needless to say, people had a lot of questions.

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“Did you just put fruit into the dishwasher?!?” one astonished person asked.

“Why would anyone use the dishwasher to 'clean' vegetables? This is gross... bacteria etc., that may be left behind by food do not live on cold, dry plants like dishes... they will live on the vegetables. Please tell me this is satire,” another perplexed person wrote.

Others questioned whether washing them so thoroughly would affect how long the they would last.

She explained her process: "I use a cold cycle with white vinegar.”

“I read an article about it. It’s saves water, etc. If you Google it, several will come up,” she added in the comments section.

Some of her eagle-eyed followers noted that she has two dishwashers in her kitchen, with some speculating that she may use one solely for washing produce.

Some praise 'genius' fruit and vegetable move: 'Brilliant'

Meanwhile, not everyone thought her idea was odd, and many shared that they thought it was "brilliant".

“Rinse fruit and vegetables in the dishwasher - how genius!” one person praised.

“It's brilliant,” commented another.

“Damn, that’s smart,” a third said.

Another said: “Great idea! I would wash mine in a dishwasher because I dread washing them because I doubt if they’re cleaned properly.”

Is it a good idea? Expert weighs in on fruit and veg in dishwasher

So, can you actually wash fruit and vegetables in the dishwasher?

CSIRO's consumer food safety spokesperson and food scientist, Dr Rozita Vaskoska, said it is not recommended.

"There are food safety risks from cross-contamination with microorganisms that have survived previous wash cycles, plus the fruit and veggies could end up with dishwasher detergent residue on them," she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

"In addition, the length and temperature of the washing can also result in quality changes in the food."

Dr Vaskoska suggested washing fruit and vegetables before they are consumed rather than washing them in bulk before refrigerating - unless they have visible contamination like soil, which should be washed before refrigerating to stop cross-contamination with other food.

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"Fruit and vegetables should be washed using clean tap water. Leafy vegetables should be washed leaf by leaf. You can also use a clean brush on melons and root vegetables to help ensure they’re dirt-free," she suggests.

"You should wash your hands with warm water and soap before handling fruit, vegetables, and other foods."

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