Dishing the dirt

SIR – Anita Bowden (Letters, November 17) wonders why the label on her pineapple instructs her to “Wash before use”.

The pineapple is the one fruit that I wash meticulously, as its rough husk may well conceal traces of the various pesticides and fertilisers used to promote its growth.

There is a risk that these could be transferred by the cutting knife on to the fruit’s delicious juicy centre. Geoffrey Treloar Cranage, Cheshire SIR – My experience with a lot of fruit, particularly pineapples and mangoes, is that one should wash after eating. Robert Parkes Steyning, West Sussex