bleach pretreatment for RNA extraction - (Jun/14/2006 )

I have to isolate RNA from olive fruit, so I pick the fruit and supervsr says I have to wash them in household bleach ( ) then rinse with DEPC water and then grind in liquid nitrogen.
Don't you think that bleach is going to kill all fungi etc. possibly living on fruit surface, but also is going to damage the olive RNA and stress the fruit?
I think that the RNA I'm going to get is not representative of what's happening in the fruit at that moment...
Please give me an opinion!

bleach or NaOH 1% is used to clean from bacteria and holds a catalytic property for RNA degradation as well as DNA degradation.