1. Rinsing with tap water is just as effective as rinsing with a veggie wash--so do don't waste your money! Do be sure to rub the produce when rinsing; a study showed that friction was key to removing contaminants.
2. Even better than washing with tap water or veggie wash is soaking produce in vinegar. A 10% vinegar-to-water mixture has been shown to reduce bacteria by 90%, viruses by 95% and pesticide residue, although I couldn't find a percentage for that one.
3. Discard outer layers. Although pesticide sits on produce so long it often seeps through the outer layers, it can still be beneficial to peel the skin or toss the outer leaves of fruits and vegetables.
4. Even if your produce is organic, you should wash thoroughly. Who knows how many dirty hands have touched it in transit!
I tried out the vinegar wash on blueberries, Asian pears and apples and am happy to report that a good soak plus tap water rinse left no vinegar-y taste.
3 comments:
Good info. I always try to buy organic as well but is hard around here sometimes. I have the veggie wash but will not buy it again now! I will def try the vinegar.
This is something I've been striving to do too, but it's frustrating because organic is limited and expensive too. And now that I have a daughter, I want her to have the healthiest fruits and veggies to eat, so this is helpful! Thanks!
Good tip, thanks. Unfortunately it's so expensive to buy organic... but at least following these ideas makes the regular shopping safer. We grew our own tomatoes last summer, I only had to buy one bunch the whole season once since I needed a lot for a recipe. I'm proud of myself for that :)
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