Produce Clean Up from Pesticides

Unless you are growing your own produce, you can pretty figure your food has pesticide residue. Dr. Oz recently took a look at fresh produce, vegetable and fruits, and shared the bad news on some of our most favorite produce.

Strawberries can have over 50 pesticides  -he recommended  soaking for 2 min BEFORE rinsing.

Apples – 40 pesticide residues on apples Oz said to make sure you can smell the fruit you’re eating.

Spinach – USDA found 40 pesticide residues on spinach – it's difficult to wash, so Oz recommended buying organic.

Peaches – 60 pesticide residues on peaches, and because they are soft skinned they are difficult to clean.

Of course these are just a few examples, but please be aware that produce should never be purchased from the store and eaten without washing. Can you imagine being one of those people who pop a grape in their mouth at the produce stand? I wonder how much pesticide they consume when they do that?

Vegetable washes are available for purchase, but you can make your own with common house hold ingredients. As several of you have requested it, I thought i would share the recipe.

Homemade Recipe for Produce Cleaner

1 c water

1 c vinegar

Little baking soda

Juice from ½ lemon

Pour ingredients into spray bottle. The vinegar has anti-bacterial properties and lemon juice acts as an astringent.

Spray on produce and let it sit for 5 min. and rinse.

When we purchase strawberries we fill a large bowl with water, dump in a good amount of white vinegar, squeeze in some lemon juice and sprinkle a litlte baking soda. I don't measure, but I figure putting these ingredients together as a soak is better than water on its own. We let the berries soak about 30 min. and rinse thoroughly. the first time we did this it really was surprising how much dirt, etc. we found in the bowl. So please, wash your fruit and vegetables!


For more information check out the site of the Environmental Working Group.