Online influencers are soaking and spraying their fresh produce, but experts say the ‘number one rule’ of food hygiene has nothing to do with special sanitisers

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You know the cost-of-living crisis is biting when videos of influencers unpacking their grocery “hauls” are viral on TikTok.

Chewing through millions of views, fruit and vegetables are aesthetically plopped into a sink filled with water, piece by piece. “Sanitising” products are then added, ranging from the fizz of baking soda and vinegar to specialised vegetable soaps (“Amazon link in my bio!”). There are even expensive electronic purifiers, which shake, shimmy and bubble away in the basin, supposedly removing any nasties.