February 1, 2025

The importance of cleaning your bought fruit and vegetable

Fruit and vegetables are a really important part of our nutrition. I hold my hands up that I never used to wash my fruit, and would eat an apple straight from the fruit bowl, or a baked potato skin bought from the supermarket without thinking about it.  I was brought up that way in the days when the fruit and vegetables came from nearby market gardens. I wasn’t scared of ‘germs’.   In the past I have even opened a pack of fruit and given one to the kids to keep them quiet on the way around the supermarket.  There is no way that I would do it now.

I used to think that the produce looked clean and so it must have been washed. However, now adays there are far more dangerous things than just muck and germs on the skins of our bought fruit and vegetables.  That is why is important to clean our fruit and vegetables, and not just with water.  It is not just bought fruit, though. Vegetables from our garden also have microorganisms on them that may cause harm, and bits of soil that can cause sickness, which is why it is important to wash them too.  However, they should  not have any pesticides on.

What is on our fruit and vegetables that needs washing off?

Supermarkets in particular are using preservatives on the skins to stop fruit rotting, and growers often spray produce, at least half a dozen times whilst it is growing.  Pesticides are also being used when the food is being grown.  According to the YouTube, @annasfoodlifestyle, a recent study found some fruit and vegetables have up to 48 chemicals on them. Some of them are not approved to be used in the UK.  Our UK farmers, apparently, can only use 19 pesticides. Some of the places like Spain have had their growing areas destroyed by storms, therefore supermarkets are finding new places to import food from, which are not as well regulated.  The combination of these pesticides can be really detrimental.  Imagine that you are making a fruit salad or something?

These pesticides can impact on fertility in men, increase the risk of birth defects, mess with the body’s hormone production, and have been thought to lead to miscarriages. Using bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), or vinegar are now thought to be the most effective ways to reduce microbes and pesticides from our fruit and vegetable, but they do not eliminate them.  Peeling helps as well, though does not remove chemicals completely.  When I was young I was taught that most of the goodness in fruit and vegetables was just under the skin and so we should leave it on.  Now unless I have grown things myself, I do often peel them.

You can also buy fruit and veg commercial wash, and machines that wash your produce, but I have never tried them.  The machines add oxygen bubbles to help clean the produce.

You might think that you are ok as you are buying organic produce, but this has been shown to also contain pesticide residue, but at a lower level.  This is why, although growing my own food takes a lot of work, I still bother, as I know what I am eating, and it has hopefully no unknown nasties lurking.

What do I use to clean them?

Bicarbonate of soda provides an alkaline environment which breaks down  and degrades the compounds in  the pesticides.  I add one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to one cup of cold water and I soak for at least 15 minutes.  If it delicate fruit or vegetables like blue berries, I will just swish them around.  If they are firmer vegetables or fruit I have a firm brush that I scrub them with.  It is used solely for this purpose. Don’t mix the the bicarbonate and the vinegar together as they will neutralise each other.  Some people use bicarbonate of soda first, then rinse with vinegar and water, and then rinse with plain water. I dry them with a clean T towel and air.  Afterwards I put them in a glass, lidded jar and store them in the fridge.

A lot of people use diluted vinegar and this is best for fruit that has wax on it like oranges, lemons, or apples.  Some people use salt.  The latter two can leave a taste.

Don’t be tempted to use soap or detergent to wash your fruit and vegetables as these can be absorbed by the produce.  It also important that you are using food grade bicarbonate of soda.

Always rinse your fruit after using bicarbonate of soda or vinegar.  I do it under running water.  If it is things like grapes or blue berries I put them in a sieve.

Which are the worst fruit and vegetables for pesticides?

This changes every year but this year it is spinach, kale, grapes, peaches, strawberries, pears, nectarines, pears, apples, citrus fruit, peppers, cherries, green beans, and blue berries.

 

 

 

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2 Comments

  1. Angela Carmody February 1, 2025 at 6:02 pm - Reply

    I always wash all fruit and vegetables but only in water. I peel shop bought vegetables unless it’s jacket potatoes or courgette. My husband scrubs the carrots but doesn’t peel, which I hate if it is going into coleslaw as you can see the peel a different colour. I know our fruit and vegetables from the garden have no chemicals on or in but even rain can be polluted and we have squirrels, foxes, cats and the occasional mouse climbing on to the raised beds, so they do need washing well.

  2. Janet Howard February 2, 2025 at 6:43 pm - Reply

    Thank you Toni. This is a real eye opener for me, as I had always thought that washing with water was enough.

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