Can you eat raw carrots in this country?

I know this is a stupid question, but can you eat uncooked carrots here? I ask because I was shopping at Tesco online, and bag of baby carrots said "Do not eat raw". My husband then went out to Sainsbury's and bought to bags of carrots and, while neither said you can't eat them raw, both had cooking instructions and said "make sure it's piping hot before serving." What gives? I wanted to dip baby carrots in hummus.

Huh?? I've never read that. Maybe I've just never looked. Anyway, I always eat raw carrots!

I wouldn't eat raw carrots if they weren't organic...I am really surprised at that warning though, and can only guess that they are covered in pesticides which is why they put that.  Quite disturbing.  But generally, yes, raw carrots are fine.

Baby carrots might be different.  Aren't they just unripe carrots?

Vicky

I only eat raw carrots - I can't stand the taste of cooked ones! Raw carrot is often used in salads.

Having said that though, I don't think baby carrots are usually eaten raw. I don't think that the root is grown to it's full extent, so may be they are not suitable to eat raw.

I just checked the Tesco website and only found the warning on the frozen baby carrots - are you talking about fresh ones? 

I still can't quite see why you wouldn't be able to eat raw, thawed carrots, but it might have to do with the freezing process damaging the vegetable tissue and making it more susceptible to bacteria, combined with incorrect thawing procedures. 

I have eaten raw carrots here, however, they were peeled.  I have never eaten raw carrots in the US so I don't know if people eat them peeled there too.  M&S sells these little carrot pots with their own thousand island dressing for dipping.  That's what I've eaten.

June

We've always eaten raw carrots, baby ones too.  I usually just wash them really, really well.  I'd be surprised at any veg that wasn't suitable to eat raw as long as it was washed properly. 

Unpeeled carrots would be nasty - the peel is likely to be dirty from the soil and could have come into contact with pesticides.

It's peeled carrots all the way here!

I just checked the Tesco site too - the fresh baby carrots seem to be fine to eat raw. In fact, I think they are the type of carrots used in the 'carrot and dips pots' that M&S and several other places sell.

Like Carrie, my guess is that the warning is there on the frozen ones because you have to be careful with frozen food when you thaw it out - it needs to be cooked thoroughly in order to make sure that it is safe to eat.

You haven't lived if you haven't eaten dirty(ish) raw carrots straight from the ground... but we don't use pesticides.

You haven't lived if you haven't eaten dirty(ish) raw carrots straight from the ground... but we don't use pesticides.

I'm that way with tomatoes right off the vine

Baby carrots - the smooth, peeled ones in a bag - are just regular carrots cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch lengths and tumbled around in a kind of sanding drum until the ends are rounded off. I am guessing that the carrots are peeled or sanded first, maybe a few layers are shredded off for the carrot shreds you see in bagged salads or on salad bars, and the rest of the carrot is turned into 'baby' carrots. The different widths of the baby carrots are determined by whether that particular length came from the wide end or the skinny end of the carrot.

No big deal, really, but I just don't like being lied to, so I buy regular organic carrots, scrub them with the rough side of a sponge, and cut them into coins for cooking or eating raw with dips. Just as good, and cheaper, too.

If the problem with eating the carrots raw was because of pesticides, it seems those would have been removed when they were cleaned and peeled during processing, and if the chemicals are imbedded in the carrots and can't be removed by a good washing, how is cooking them going to help matters?

Anyway, organic or not, I am sure it's fine to eat raw baby carrots in general, they sell them in little pots with dip at Boots and M&S for just that purpose. I would ignore that particular warning label, maybe the company puts that label on everything they sell so if someone comes at them with a lawsuit because they got listeria or salmonella from their raw veg they can just say 'hey we told you to cook it!' It's just paranoid overkill, much like the package of roasted peanuts I am eating from right now that says WARNING MAY CONTAIN NUTS.

much like the package of roasted peanuts I am eating from right now that says WARNING MAY CONTAIN NUTS.

 

I think it must have something to do with pesticides.  I've always eaten raw carrots, but usually get organic because I don't like to peel them.