What is the best way to clean off the residual pesticides and herbicides from my store bought produce?

Question

Who knows what terrible things it may be doing to my family and myself. Worse yet, there is usually no way for us to normally detect its presence on our food and we end up consuming it all the time. Is there any way I can really get rid of it before eating the produce?

Answer 1

Talk to the manager(s) at your local grocery store about stocking more organic produce. They may be quite responsive. You can talk to local environmental groups (or start your own!), to work with them to educate others about the dangers of pesticides, not only to the end user, but to the farmers and farm workers who come into contact with much higher levels of pesticides than you or I do. Local farmers markets often have organic produce but haven't gotten certified due to the high cost of doing so.

Answer 2

While the washing/rinsing idea is good, organic may be better if you have a true reason to be worried. Here's why:

"Salad E. coli recall threatens lucrative market"

This is a headline from a July 10, 2005 article at the link below where it was discovered that e.coli was present in prepackaged, prewashed Dole salads, presumably because it had been absorbed through the root system. Scary thought. Not looking forward to reverting to subsistence farming myself (no matter *what* my husband keeps mumbling), I'll still keep buying the convenient things and wash, rinse, and keep my fingers crossed.

On the other hand, here is some advise from "Ask Annie" at Care 2:

"-- 1. How to Clean Your Vegetables
Adapted from "Total Renewal: 7 Key Steps to Resilience, Vitality & Long-Term Health," by Frank Lipman, M.D. (Jeremy Tarcher, Putnam, 2003).

Food-borne illness derived from contaminated produce is the largest source of food poisoning. Susan Sumner, a food scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, developed an effective disinfecting procedure using white vinegar (or cider vinegar) and 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (the same as found at the drugstore). These ingredients are completely nontoxic and inexpensive and work not only on fruit and vegetables but can be used to sanitize counters and preparation surfaces, including wooden cutting boards, as well.

Here are the very simple directions for using these ingredients effectively:

After you put the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide into individual spray bottles:

1. Spray your produce or work surface thoroughly first with vinegar and then with hydrogen peroxide.

2. Then rinse the produce under running water or wipe the surface with a clean wet sponge."

Good luck with you as well.

Answer 3

I don't recomment this, but a cancer survivor whose immune system was down around the time of chemotherapy was my Sunday School Mediator. So told us that for the best chance of not getting sick off of produce is to wash it with antibacterial dish detergent. I actually do this, I wet the produce, and then I use a dot (smaller than a penny, but bigger than a pin drop) of antibacterial dish detergent directly to the wet produce and then wash it with water. I have not gotten sick from produce since I do that and not eat rotten produce. But the best way to have pesticide free produce is to buy it from a store that sells organic and pesticide free products.

Answer 4

I wash everything that I get from the store in water with a little mild soap. If they're able to be scrubbed, then I do that. Otherwise, I use a soft cloth to wash them.
I too worry about pesticides, but I also worry about all the strangers who've touched the food before I did!

Answer 5

Try buying organically grown vegetables. I used to buy a veggie wash. After reading the ingredients on the side of the bottle, I discovered baking soda was just as an effective cleaner. You can go the community gardening route. You can patio garden and swap veggies with your neighbors. Tomatoes, and lettuce can be grown in half barrels as well as herbs. You can check our your community and investigate coops and local farmers markets. See what resources and information are available through the local community master gardeners program, universities with agriculture curricula and health food stores.

Answer 6

http://www.veggie-wash.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=faqs

Think about this;

pesticides can also be ingested into the plants through the roots and are sometimes designed to do this.

What Are We Doing to Our Food? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site
A growing number of consumers are alarmed at what is now being done to our food. Why? Is this alarm justified? Let us examine three areas of concern.

http://www.watchtower.org/library/g/2001/12/22/article_01.htm

Answer 7

most people will say to just rinse it off, but that still leaves a little residue, and if your allergic that can have some nasty effects (as it did with my dad). The way my dad cleans his fruit is he rinses it, wipes it with soap, then scrubs it off with a wash cloth, then rinses off any left over soap. After that the fruit is as clean as you can get it and there is either no pesticide or so little an amount left that it is negligable.

Answer 8

When I took one of my classes to a museum, the lecturer said she will not eat any skins on fruits and vegetables at all because they filter out pesticides. Maybe forget washing and just peel.

Answer 9

Don't get the spray they sell. Consumer Reports said that was a big waste of money. Just use warm water and a tiny bit of dishsoap-Pam, Dawn, Joy...whatever

Answer 10

I think they sell a product for rinsing off produce. You just mix it with water and soak the produce for a few mintutes, then rinse.