[GhostUser]

Ok. I've had this in my mind for a long, long time a just thought to ask it (as I was reminded of it from another thread).

What is the best way to remove the crap that is on produce from the grocery store? I purchased some green and red peppers the other day that had this wax on them. And then there's the pesticides. Double YUK!

Since I've been eating like a ton more fruits and vegetables during the last 6 months this has become a greater concern for me.

I have a small brush that I use and I basically just rinse while I scrub. I remember seeing produce wash introduced into the market back last summer but I've never tried it yet.

What do you do?

 

[Thalia]

I don't think there is any way you can get rid of all of the wax except to peel it. I use diluted dishwashing detergent and a scrubbing device and then rinse well. Those cleaning agents they sell in the store for veggies are just vinegar and mild detergent in some cases.

I hope someone else has some better ideas.

 

[Poesa]

To make a diluted form of hydrochloric acid to wash off pesticides: fill your kitchen sink with cold water. Add four tablespoons of salt and the juice of half a fresh lemon. Soak fruits and vegetables five to ten minutes (leafy greens two to three minutes and berries one to two minutes); rinse well after soaking and use.

I'm not sure if it removes wax. But I think it's the best method. Note that you have to use a fresh lemon.

 

[soilman]

I don't think there is a problem rinsing off pesticides that are on the surface. Just make sure you let the item soak for about 10 mninutes, rather than just run running water over it. It takes time, in contact with plain water, for the coating of pesticides to dissolve.

Unfortunately, plants also absorb pesticides thru their roots, and these can remain in their tissues. I don't think there is any practical way to get rid of these.

 

[Joe]

According to:

http://eartheasy.com/eat_pesticides_produce.htm

Quote:

Vegetable and Fruit Washes

Commercial vegetable and fruit washes are available which are formulated to remove chemical residue from produce. Examples are Environné and Vitanet, available online or at your local health food stores and some supermarkets. You can also make your own produce wash using a very diluted solution of mild dishwashing detergent (1 tsp detergent per gallon, or 4 liters, water).

For grapes, strawberries, green beans, and leafy vegetables, swirl the foods in a dilute solution of dish detergent and water at room temperature for 5 to 10 seconds, then rinse with slightly warm water.

For the other fruits and vegetables, use a soft brush to scrub the food with the solution for about 5 to 10 seconds, then rinse again with slightly warm water.

Peel Fruits with Higher Residue Levels

Peeling fruits, especially peaches, pears and apples, will help remove residues. Be sure to keep the peelings out of the compost. Some pesticides permeate the skin of the fruit, so this method does not guarantee residual free produce in all cases.

 

[Joe]

According to:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/...ion/BJ779.html

Quote:

What about pesticide residues? Recent government data shows that almost all fresh fruits and vegetables have either no pesticide residue or residues below established tolerance levels.

Here's how to wash fresh produce:

Before working with any foods, hands should be washed with soap and water. Also, make sure preparation areas are sanitary.

Under clean, running water, rub fruits and vegetables briskly with your hands to remove dirt and surface microorganisms.

Wash produce just before serving - not before storing, as washing will cause produce to spoil faster.

Produce with a firm skin or hard rind like carrots, potatoes, melons or squash may be scrubbed with a vegetable brush and water.

Discard the outer leaves of leafy vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage before washing.

Always wash squash and melons, even if you don't eat the rind or skin because when cut, dirt or bacteria that is on the outer surface can be transferred to the inner flesh.

DO NOT wash produce with detergent or bleach solutions. Fruits and vegetables are porous and can absorb the detergent or bleach, which is not intended for use on foods and consuming them on fruits and vegetables have the potential to make you sick.

Commercial produce sprays or washes are available in some supermarkets. These are currently being studied and in some cases may help remove some soil, surface microbes and pesticides. Extension, USDA, or FDA does not recommend these sprays or washes. No washing method completely removes or kills all microbes, which may be present on the produce. Washing produce with tap water is usually adequate. Users of commercial produce washes are advised to consider the cost of the product versus the potential benefit.

For more information, contact your local University of Minnesota Extension Service Office.

 

[Joe]

According to:

http://www.consumerreports.org/main/...older_id=18151

Quote:

Cut residues by washing produce

We tested our produce unwashed, just as it arrived from the market. But in real life, most people don't eat fresh produce without doing something to it first, if only rinsing it off. No one has directly studied rinsing with water only, but an ingenious study done at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio shows that extra-careful food preparation can get rid of a lot of pesticides--though not all.

The San Antonio researchers brought fruits and vegetables in 10-pound lots and tested half of each sample for pesticides. If residues showed up, they prepared the other half of the sample as follows: First, they washed the produce using extremely diluted green Palmolive liquid dish soap, then rinsed with tap water. After that, they did the usual things a home cook would do: stemmed the strawberries, snapped and boiled the green beans, peeled and seeded the oranges, peeled the carrots, and so on.

The results: 53 percent of the washed samples no longer had detectable pesticide residues. The samples that still had residues registered declines ranging from 30 percent to nearly 100 percent.

 

[LadyFaile]

i dunno, my store's peppers are usually wax-free, so i just rinse them well, but certain types of apples always seem to have that wax on them. i have fruit and veggie wash that i sometimes use, before that i used dish soap like mentioned above but i found it left a soapy taste behind no matter how much i rinsed, and i hate that. so i bought an all-natural environmentally friendly blah blah blah, it's only like 2 bucks and lasts forever and it works. it may just be vinegar and water but it's convenient and the 2 dollar bottle has lasted me a really long time, so it was worth it to me.

 

[soilman]

It is hard to get wax or oils, off vegetables, without peeling them. I get local apples, generally, which are unwaxed. Nice and dull-looking too. They look better to me when they are dull-looking. The red peppers i buy in the supermarket, and the cucumbers, are oily-waxed extremely. I peel the cukes. But I don't know what to do about the peppers if I want to eat them raw and unpeeled. Even washing them, experimentally, with a relatively concentrated solution of dishwashing liquid, didn't seem to get much of the oily-wax off.

 

[GhostUser]

Yeah, the peppers are my main concern. The store I shop at have never waxed there peppers and now they are

I may have to go back to getting my produce at the open-air market we have here in town rather than the supermarket.

 

[GhostUser]

I usually just rinse my veggies with water but I may need to do more. I thought that boiling them in soup or steaming them would kill whatever may be on them. Who knows..

 

[spud]

I don't think I've ever bought anything with wax on in the uk. Yuk. Someone tell me if I'm missing something.

I polish my apples though, they have a natural ability to be shone up with a tea towel and look prettier.

 

[GhostUser]

The supermarkets here spray wax on the veggies and fruits (not all but some) to make them more shinnier. Guess that's supposed to make us purchase more. Cucumbers, peppers, and apples mostly. I agree..Yuk ! Why can't they leave it alone!

BTW..what's a tea towel? Is that similar to what we call a kitchen towel in the US I wonder?

 

[spud]

What we call kitchen towel is that big paper roll that you rip squares off, like toilet paper for the kitchen. Tea towels are cotton and we use them to dry the dishes. Us without a dishwasher that is.

 

[GhostUser]

Huh, interesting. We call your kitchen towel a paper towel.

 

[spud]

Paper towels we get in public toilets to dry our hands on. I suppose you could call it that in a kitchen too.

 

[Thalia]

Quote:

Originally posted by spud

What we call kitchen towel is that big paper roll that you rip squares off, like toilet paper for the kitchen. Tea towels are cotton and we use them to dry the dishes. Us without a dishwasher that is.

That sounds better to me. More sanitary than the old rags one can sometimes have around being used to wipe one's hands and then the counter and then hands again. Gross! Yeah, cotton towels for drying dishes are nice, but most people here just have these terry cloth things.