Should I Wash Fruits & Vegetables I Buy at the Grocery Store in a Fruit & Veggie Wash?
Should I Wash Fruits & Vegetables I Buy at the Grocery Store in a Fruit & Veggie Wash?
By Bill Adler, MPH, RS
Technical Food Safety Consultant
Fruits and veggies from the grocery store have wax on them. This keeps the moisture in from the time of picking to the time you buy them. But those waxes and underlying pesticides aren’t good for you. The waxes are known as parabens, and as a chemical class, parabens aren’t good for your kids. In the medical field, parabens are known as endocrine disruptors and shouldn’t be eaten, even if it’s a small amount each time it’s eaten. And then there are the pesticides under the wax. Since pesticides are oils, they don’t come off with a quick flush under the tap, either.
Life’s Pure Balance Fruit and Vegetable Wash dissolves the wax and removes the pesticides so you don’t have to eat them. Put 2-teaspoons in a gallon of water. Let produce sit in it for 2+ minutes, a quick rinse and you’re good to go. That’s it! This is a concentrated citric acid so it doesn’t take much to clean produce. I’ve found it gives us extended refrigerated shelf life by about 2 days. Everything gets washed as soon as we get it home and this gives us a good 12 days of storage. I know of no other fruit and veggie wash that does that. There’s no odor or carry-over residue either.
I get asked all the time if it can be used to wash lettuce, kale, spinach, tomatoes, and so on. Yes, it’s made for all of these. Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries all benefit, too. Strawberries actually have a porous surface. Raspberries have gaps between the segments. Blueberries apparently aren’t easy to cultivate and growers use up to 4 different herbicides a season. Washing fruits and veggies by rinsing under tap water alone doesn’t do much to protect you from pesticides, pathogens, and other chemicals. If you don’t believe me, do your own internet search. It’s all there. But now that you know, maybe you should wash your produce with Life’s Pure Balance Fruit and Vegetable Wash. You’ll be surprised by the improved taste once you do.
Bill Adler is an expert in food safety, foodborne illnesses, and the food service inspection industry. He has conducted training for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) teaching local, state, and federal disease investigators as well as working with laboratory specialists and epidemiologists. Bill has worked extensively with the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) to perform food service inspections and train local and state public health employees.
