Have I wasted hundreds of hours of my life rinsing fruits and vegetables at the kitchen sink to “remove the pesticides” before I eat them? Or, to be more precise: (a) do fruits and vegetables purchased from a grocery store still have pesticides on them? and (b) if so, is a quick rinse at the kitchen sink sufficient to remove the pesticides?
I don’t expect a categorical yes or no answer is possible here, but has anyone seen any studies on this?
Studies I haven’t seen, but there are regulations about produce having to be washed to at least a minimum standard, so it’s not like it comes right out of the ground into you hands worms and all. I’ll only wash something I buy if it looks dirty, and well, I haven’t keeled over yet. There are probably studies out there telling what is found on produce, but most likely few if any that followed thousands of people for a lifetime watching what effects eating it actually had on them. Since people aren’t dying at an alarming rate (or any rate at all) from eating unwashed stuff from the market, I wouldn’t worry about it much. You’re much more likely to catch the flu from the sick person who was feeling and breathing all over that grapefruit you bought than to get a mouthfull of pesticides and kick the bucket.
Don’t know about pesticides but another consideration, at least for me is to look at the folks picking and handling the produce we eat. Then look around for the nearest toilet or porta-potty. If you ARE lucky enough to find a nearby honey pot, look carefully and see if there is a sink with soap.
Doesn’t take much to wash your produce.
Always wash your produce. I have many years experience delivering produce to a variety of stores and everything I eat gets washed except for prepackaged ready to eat salad mix. Many stores have a prep area in the back room where the produce is washed off before it’s stocked on the rack. They draw a big sink full of water and dip and scrub the greens in it. At first the water is nice and clean, but after a little while it’s pretty grimy. Always wash or peal whole fresh mushrooms. The little bits of dirt sticking to them are particals from the composted manure beds they are grown in. The pre sliced muchrooms should be fine to use as they come in the package. Any fruits not marked organic need to be washed to get the pesticide residue off. Imported fruits are the worst. American farmers have Federal rules giving them standards they must follow in their use of pesticides. In other countries there are no rules, or there are no agencys enforcing the rules. Mexico and South America are the worst offenders for over using pesticides. Even organics aren’t always perfectly clean. They may come out of the shipping box free of contamination, but was the display rack washed off after being used to sell pesticide covered produce? Bins, carts, employees hands and paring knives can all also be sources of pesticide residue on organic produce. Here’s something you can’t check, but what was hauled in the transport trailer before the produce? Good carriers and drivers will have a trailer washed out before loading produce into it. Most are washed, but I have seen trailers with pools of blood or spilled chemicals loaded with pallets of produce. While the pallets keep the boxes off the floor and the boxes protect the produce from direct contact, the trailer is shut up and sealed with the air recuculating over and through everything for several hours to several days until the load is delivered to the wholesaler. Tight scheduals and pressure to make a profit can lead to shortcuts being taken in doing things the right way.
I agree with everything Raving Nude Hermit wrote except, would like to add one point:
Organic fruits definitely need to be washed if you are concerned about what’s on your food. Manure fertiliser can (supposedly) leave traces of E. coli and other nasties on the skin of organic fruits and vegies.
I personally figure that since I’ve been eating unwashed produce all my life, my immune system probably knows how to deal with the bugs that may be on my fresh produce. Chemicals are another story, however.
funny thou , the water in the UK has all sorts of diarohea causing bugs in it , so boil the water let it cool then rinse your fruit with it
In order to really get the pesticide residue and bacteria off the produce, a scrubbing with soap and water is necessary. But then you’ll have soap residue on the food, which can be hazardous too, and certain veggies are pretty difficult to scrub. Lettuce, for example.
People have died from eating clean-looking produce. Mexican strawberries come to mind, here. Also, you’d be surprised how much dirt you’ll collect from rinsing the prepackaged salad mix.
[anecdote] My college microbiology teacher always prepared her produce this way: when she came home from the grocery store, she immediately filled the kitchen sink with water mixed with a cup of bleach. All the produce went into the sink to soak for several hours or even overnight before she’d put it into the fridge. I asked her if it was unsafe (not to mention unpleasant) to eat food that had been soaking in bleach- wouldn’t the food absorb some of it? She didn’t care. She was just so frightened of germs. She died young with breast cancer. [/anecdote]
I’d recommend you rinse your produce to remove organic material (i.e. dirt), then try not to worry about it.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Holly *
In order to really get the pesticide residue and bacteria off the produce, a scrubbing with soap and water is necessary. But then you’ll have soap residue on the food, which can be hazardous too, and certain veggies are pretty difficult to scrub. Lettuce, for example.
Using the smallest dab of soap will leave no residue, just rinse well. For cucumbers, apples, tomatoes, squash, etc, all you need is the smallest spot of soap on your palm, then wash them with it and quickly rinse. No problem. Avoid anti-bacterial or strongly scented soaps.
For carrots, either scrub well with a brush and a dab of soap, or peel. (Whatever nutrients you lose can’t be that dramatic in the grand scheme of things.)
Broccoli is a tough one. Can’t be scrubbed. I use a potato peeler to lightly peel the stems. The florets get a quick wash with soap and then a thorough rinsing.
As for lettuce, it depends on the type. Iceburg can be washed and soaked pretty well, but the leafier stuff gets water logged very quickly, and no spinner on Earth can get all the water out thereafter.
BTW, always wash pre-cut produce, such as cantaloupes. Sometimes these are contaminated with e-coli–and one brush with this contagion is more than enough.
People have died from eating clean-looking produce. Mexican strawberries come to mind, here. Also, you’d be surprised how much dirt you’ll collect from rinsing the prepackaged salad mix.
Pre-packaged salad mix is notorious for contaminants. News reports have documented this. (No cite.) Also, let me say that produce managers in grocery stores are too busy to properly wash produce. At best, the stuff you buy probably gets a quick rinse in a pool of possibly contaminated water.
By all means wash your fruits & veggies, “organic” or not, but remember, it’s still important to eat them.
As Jane Brody says,
Although she doesn’t say anything about how to wash them, other sites do:
http://www.karmanos.org/answers/nutrition/pesticides.html
Now all you have to do is worry about natural carcinogens.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nasd/docs4/va98032.html
You can, of course, back that ‘fact’ up with some evidence?