Avos are a delicious accompaniment to many meals, but how often do you wash them before slicing them in half? The chances are, you didn’t even realize this was something that needed to be done, and this is a common produce mistake made by so many of us.

You Need to Wash Your Fruit, Even the Ones With Skins You Cut Away
The skin of an avocado can be filled with bacteria, including listeria and salmonella, and the
FDA recommends washing the skin first, The Independent reports. The bacteria can be transferred from the avocado’s skin when cutting into the fruit.

The washing of produce is also often forgotten for fruits like banana, orange, cantaloupe and mangoes, Shape reports.

Tomatoes Lose Their Taste If You Chill Them
Perhaps not a health risk, but the refrigeration of tomatoes is something that many individuals do, but shouldn’t. According to CBS News, the fruit is “robbed” of its flavor when cooling them to a temperature below 54 degrees, and prolonged chilling stops them from making a substance that contributes to their taste. Keeping this in mind then, tomatoes should also not be bought cold.

Peeling Fruits Is Making You Lose Antioxidants
You don’t like the skins of fruits and vegetables? But maybe you should start trying to eat them because Shape notes that most of the antioxidants and polyphenols are located just below the surface of the fruit.

Buying Fruit That Is Not Ripe, and Will Probably Never Ripen
Picking fruits that are far from ripe is another produce mistake many of us make. We may think that bananas, berries, and pineapples will further ripen on the counter at home, but according to Taste of Home, for pineapples, there is a misconception that they will “continue ripening on the counter.” The publication also notes that strawberries with white spots and pieces won’t ever ripen, and bananas that are too green may never ripen.

Sampling Food When We Think It Could Have Gone Bad
When we are not sure whether products are good or not, we may sample them, but this is one of the biggest mistakes. Eat Right notes that we cannot see, smell, or taste the food bacteria that causes food poisoning, and sampling food when it could potentially be contaminated can cause illness (even in small amounts).

Washing Raw Meat Is a Big No-No
You may want to wash raw meat before cooking it, but this is not advisable because it can spread bacteria to your sink, EatRight notes.

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