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Pesticides and chemicals on vegetables and fruits

By : | 0 Comments | On : August 3, 2017 | Category : Tips

We all read and have been told that vegetables and fruits were good for us. And to stay healthy, we were advised to eat at least 5 a day. I am a firm believer that we should follow this advice.

But unless we buy organic vegetables and fruits, pesticides are used widely on crops.

A pesticide is a substance or a mixture of substances used for killing pests: organisms dangerous to cultivated plants or to animals. The term applies to various pesticides such as insecticide, fungicide, herbicide and nematocide.

Applications of pesticides to crops and animals may leave residues in or on food when it is consumed, and those specified derivatives are considered to be of toxicological significance.

There is much speculation that these chemicals can have a negative impact on humans. There are epidemiological studies that show positive correlations between exposure to pesticides through occupational hazard (which tends to be significantly higher than that ingested by the general population through food!) and the occurence of certain cancers. (Ref Wikipedia)

However, The Food Standards Agency in U.K. Aims to ensure that food safety is given priority when pesticides are authorised and monitored by the Chemicals Regulation Directorate. To know more go to https://www.food.gov.uk

Therefore,  it is important to wash thoroughly all fruits and vegetables to remove not only pesticide residue but also other undesirable contaminants that can be hidden in the soil.

Soil can sometimes carry harmful bacteria.”Its a myth that a little bit of dirt doesn’t do any harm” says Dr Andrew Wadge, chief scientist of the Foods Standards Agency (UK). For detailed information on this subject, go to www.nhs.uk/how to wash fruit and vegetables

Don’t be fooled by the clean look and the nice packaging!

Personally, I either add a few drops of dishwashing liquid to some quite warm water to wash my fruits and vegetables (followed by a good rinse in cold water) or soak them in bicarbonate of sodium. And when I am not sure from where my salads came from, I wash them also with few drops of sterilising liquid (formulated to sterilise baby food equipment).

Some advocate also the use of salt water and white vinegar to clean their vegetables and fruits.

Whatever the method, you can only gain in washing thoroughly your vegetables and fruits!

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