We all make this mistake
Wash fruits and vegetables properly
© Morakod1977 / Shutterstock
It’s no secret that our favorite fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides. Because unfortunately we are no longer in the Garden of Eden and cannot eat the apple straight from the tree. Washing raw food before consumption is therefore essential! With these tips you are doing it right.
You hardly believe it because you neither see nor taste it. But an apple in the supermarket was approx. Sprayed with pesticides 30 times! In Europe alone, around 290 different active ingredients can be used to spray fruit and vegetables – including controversial agents such as glyphosate, which is still approved for weed control in Germany until 2023. That is why this appeal is justified: Wash your food! We do this way too often fatal mistake: We just quickly wipe our fruit on the sweater or with a kitchen towel shortly before consumption. But that calms the guilty conscience more than it combats what is really harmful. This is how you do it better!
Wash fruits and vegetables properly
Basically, you should wash all of your raw foods under running water. However, the water temperature is important: cold water is not as effective as warm water, but it must not be hot either. Now comes a tip for those who like it even more thorough: a mixture of lukewarm water, Baking soda and something vinegar cleans particularly intensively. In the sink or in a bowl, you bathe your fruits and vegetables in this caustic soda for 15 minutes. Because this ensures even more that pesticide residues, such as those from Thiabendazole or Phosmet, are removed. Then wash again under running water and dry.
Alternatively, you can also do a special Vegetable shampoo use. Intensive cleaning with such a product is particularly common for people who eat according to Muslim dietary regulations, i.e. halal. Because you can be absolutely sure that there are no residues on the food that contradict your own principles. These vegetable washing gels contain mild and harmless surfactants, i.e. active washing substances that you still have to wash off again with running water. You should avoid using detergent, soap or other cleaning agents.
Of course, it is always better to buy organic quality food. Hardly any pesticides are found in organic products, but pollution with harmful substances cannot be completely ruled out there either. Unfortunately, we cannot all afford that and not everyone has a fruit and vegetable garden at home. With some species it is more worthwhile to pay attention to organic quality than with others. The “Dirty Dozen“describe fruit and vegetable varieties for which pesticides are increasingly used. It is worth investing a little more money here. The”Clean Fifteen“On the other hand, contain fewer pesticides – you can save your money here. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t do without washing: So it’s best to take your time right after shopping and give your fruit and vegetables a nice full bath.
Pesticides are persistent
No matter how hard you scrub: washing will never remove all pesticide residues. According to a study by the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences, around the Half of the pesticide residues still stick to fruits and vegetables. According to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, the quantities found are not harmful to health, but they are by no means good for the body. If sprays act for hours, they even penetrate the shell! No matter how thoroughly you clean – part of the unwanted residue remains with you for better or for worse.
So peel fruit and vegetables after all?
In short: no. Because as many probably already know, most of them are hiding Vitamins right under the shell. In the case of apples, that’s even 70 percent! So if you don’t make apple strudel, where the health aspect is drowned in butter and sugar anyway, you’d better leave the peel on. But: You should also wash fruit and vegetables that we peel, such as oranges, melons or pineapples, before preparing them. Because if you touch the peel and then the pulp, you have the pesticides on your cheek again. Our tip remains the same: water on!
By the way, you can eat a lot more peels than we might like: Did you know that you can eat the peels of pineapples, watermelon, papayas, kiwis, bananas or even persimmons without any problems – after washing them? Whether it tastes good is of course the other question …
Basically, it is better to wash too much once than too little!