# Eating the skin of an orange **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2005, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990 "2005-06-05T11:02:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/1 "2005-06-05T11:02:43Z")
I was eating an orange not long ago, as I do upon occasion, and as usual was left with the skin after consuming the fleshy innards. Not being near a waste receptacle, I figured that if the inner was edible, the outer would follow suit, and ate the remaining skin. Now, is there any actual benefit here, or have I merely stumbled upon an unorthodox method of disposing of my garbage? More importantly, can anything bad happen to me this way? Incidentally, I felt fine afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/2 "2005-06-05T11:34:16Z")
ewwwwwwwwwww You’re Gross 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/3 "2005-06-05T11:45:26Z")
I would worry about pesticide residue on the skins of non-organically grown oranges. That’s about all I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/4 "2005-06-05T11:57:38Z")
No cite, but I know there are recipes that call for orange peels. The only thing I can think of right now is that yummy sugery icing that my mother pours over poundcake that has orange peel shavings in it. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/5 "2005-06-05T12:00:30Z")
[When grating the orange use either a zester or the fine side of a grater. You don’t want shreds of hard peel or the bitter white pith to be included.](http://www.showcook.co.za/orange_pound.htm) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/6 "2005-06-05T12:17:03Z")
Orange peels are used in a number of recipes. My grandmother used to cook and keep them in a sugar syrup, making a sort of candied orange peels that I liked a lot. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/7 "2005-06-05T13:46:09Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > [When grating the orange use either a zester or the fine side of a grater. You don’t want shreds of hard peel or the bitter white pith to be included.](http://www.showcook.co.za/orange_pound.htm) That’s because it’ll make your food bitter. I would expect a stomach ache if you ate too many, simply from the essential oils in the peel. But pesticides would be my main concern - the soft, porous skin of the orange can’t be cleaned as well as, say, an apple. In short, small doses shouldn’t hurt you, but I wouldn’t eat a lot of them as a regular thing. ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/8 "2005-06-05T13:54:22Z")
Good thing to know I didn’t inadvertedly poison myself then - but I’ll try not to make a habit of it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/9 "2005-06-05T13:58:26Z")
My father makes a glass of orange juice by throwing a whole orange in a blender. It is usually pretty good with thin skinned oranges…i don’t like OJ sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/10 "2005-06-05T14:09:33Z")
I’m going to try that. Sounds tasty. ---
**Author:** ![adirondack\_mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@adirondack\_mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adirondack_mike)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/11 "2005-06-05T14:30:14Z")
[marmalade](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=marmalade) ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/12 "2005-06-05T16:23:33Z")
[Candied orange peel](http://www.recipesource.com/desserts/candied-orange-peel1.html) uses the whole depth of the rind, and is quite popular. I enjoy eating orange peels, especially if they’re the thick ones with lots of the white fleshy matter on them - Thin peels tend to be too bitter for my taste. ---
**Author:** ![fifty-six](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fifty-six](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fifty-six)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/13 "2005-06-05T16:56:02Z")
I have been doing it for years. I dont even peel my orange. I just eat it whole. I also eat my hard boiled eggs with the shell on, and I eat any bones that I can manage to chew mostly fish and chicken. I do stick with mostly organic fruit though. I also like the idea of tossing the whole orange in the blender that is a great idea. I am gonna make a glass right now and try it out. ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/14 "2005-06-05T17:18:37Z")
> [@ggurl](#): > > I would worry about pesticide residue on the skins of non-organically grown oranges. This is a good point. If you stick to organic produce, you should inspect for any fungal damage - this will naturally be a bit more common on produce which lacks pesticides. Again, in small quantities, I doubt it makes much difference. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/15 "2005-06-05T17:22:09Z")
The Army’s WWII, and I believe WWI, orange marmalade included orange peels. It was the worst stuff imaginable IMHO. Come to think of it, I think what they gave us in WWII was WWI surplus. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/16 "2005-06-05T17:23:09Z")
> [@ggurl](#): > > I would worry about pesticide residue on the skins of non-organically grown oranges. That’s about all I can think of. The wax, as well. When I peel oranges I get flakes of wax all over me from the peels. It’d be hard to wash that off well enough, I would thing. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/17 "2005-06-05T17:28:24Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > The Army’s WWII, and I believe WWI, orange marmalade included orange peels. It was the worst stuff imaginable IMHO. Come to think of it, I think what they gave us in WWII was WWI surplus. All marmalade includes the peel. That’s what makes it marmalade. (See **adirondack\_mike** ’s link.) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/18 "2005-06-05T18:11:55Z")
Marmalade is yummy - I’m going to go have some now. I’m very interested to hear the opinions on whole-citrus-blender-orange juice. but not so interested in boiled eggs + shell. Ow! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/19 "2005-06-05T19:00:40Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > The wax, as well. When I peel oranges I get flakes of wax all over me from the peels. It’d be hard to wash that off well enough, I would thing. The wax is food-grade and is edible, but some packagers spray the wax and pesticides on at the same time so you probably should try to get as much off as possible. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990/20 "2005-06-05T19:11:03Z")
Ever had Orange-Flavored Chicken chinese food? The big-piece kind? They leave little pieces of orange peel in at the bottom in all the sauce, and some pieces stick to the chicken. I’ve eaten a few by mistake. I usually eat the entire apple, core and all (after chewing of course, but not the stem b/c I heard of a kid who got the stem stuck in his backbone by swallowing it wrong and died 😕 :eek: real news story!), I’m wierd too. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-the-skin-of-an-orange/306990.md?page=2)