Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Food Contamination - Should Thin-Skin Fruit Be Cleaned Well Before Consumption?



Because these kinds of fruit orchards and vineyards are more-than-likely sprayed with insecticides or fungicides during their growing seasons, the residues of these chemicals could remain on these fruits to varying degrees.
My concern is with the thin-skin ones, like, grapes, apples, peaches, or pears. You might take a good look at your next batch of grapes. Do most of them have a cloudy film on their skins. Try to wipe that film from a single grape with a napkin or paper towel. You should now see a clean shiny grape.
The next question is - what was that film? The answer is - I don't know. But I do know what it could be, at least, in part. Since that film could contain chemical residues, I rinse my batch of grapes with water, and then carefully wipe off each one individually as I eat them. Another remedy for the grapes in question is to soak the batch in water for a long period to dilute any residues by diffusion. But, I prefer the rinse-and-wipe technique because I can watch the film disappear.
I do the same thing with the apples, peaches, and pears. I wipe them well. Yet, these fruit can be peeled instead of wiping them to remove any potential contamination from their skins. Additionally, I cut out the stem pit from these particular fruits. That pit is where the insecticidal or fungicidal sprays could pool as liquids, and thus, could soak into the fruit meats through the skins. Still, I sometimes wonder if these extra precautions are necessary?

No comments:

Post a Comment