Is it necessary to use fruit and vegetable cleaners? 3 facts about pesticide residues

In recent years, there has often been a problem of pesticide misuse in agriculture, so much so that many people worry that the vegetables and fruits they buy have pesticide residues, and many businesses have seized the opportunity to launch fruit and vegetable detergents. However, can detergent really wash away pesticide residues?

Do fruits and vegetables need detergent to be washed? Image from Visual China

1. Fruit and vegetable detergents are not very effective

The working principle of fruit and vegetable detergents: the surfactants in them can make water-insoluble pesticides become easily soluble in water, so they can be rinsed away by water. The problem is that pesticides come in many types, including organic, inorganic, acidic, alkaline, insecticidal, and fungicidal. Can one kind of detergent really wash away all pesticides?

Are fruit and vegetable detergents effective against all pesticides? Image from Visual China

In the United States, many detergents also claim to remove pesticide residues better than plain water. For this reason, American universities and government departments conducted many studies. They did many comparative tests on tap water and fruit and vegetable cleaners, and found that fruit and vegetable detergents had no obvious difference in effect from rinsing fruits and vegetables with plain water.

Fruit and vegetable detergents and plain water have similar effects. Image from Visual China

They also found that whether these pesticides are easily washed off has very little to do with their solubility, and that they are mainly removed by the mechanical movement during washing. Therefore, washing fruit with fruit and vegetable detergent is not much better than with plain water, and you also have to worry about detergent residue. When washing fruits and vegetables in daily life, just rinse them for a while longer under tap water while rubbing them.

Fruits and vegetables can simply be rubbed and washed under plain water. Image from Visual China

2. The pesticide residue problem is not serious

From time to time, the media reports that certain vegetables have pesticide residues exceeding the standard, which inevitably makes people tremble with fear, deeply feel that all kinds of vegetables are unsafe, and have many misgivings about eating vegetables. The pesticide residue problem mainly has two causes:

1. Farmers lack knowledge about pesticide use and use large amounts in excess;

2. Farmers illegally spray pesticides close to the fruit and vegetable harvest period, and the pesticides in the fruits and vegetables do not have time to degrade;

Illegal use of pesticides. Image from Visual China

In fact, fruits and vegetables in regular large supermarkets and fruit and vegetable markets must undergo pesticide residue testing, and only those that do not exceed the standard can be sold on the market. Therefore, as long as you buy from regular large supermarkets and fruit and vegetable markets, you do not need to worry too much about pesticide levels exceeding the standard. On the contrary, vegetables grown at home and sold by the roadside lack supervision and carry greater risk.

Large supermarkets are not a big problem. Image from Visual China

Furthermore, "detecting pesticide residues" does not necessarily mean "harming health." Any pesticide needs to accumulate to a certain amount before it causes harm. At present, highly toxic and hard-to-degrade pesticides are gradually being banned and replaced by pesticides with low toxicity and fast degradation, so the negative effects of pesticide residues will also become smaller and smaller. There is absolutely no need for everyone to worry too much because of a little risk of pesticide residues.

3. Some fruits and vegetables have fewer pesticide residues

Of course, although the pesticide residue problem is not serious, everyone certainly still wants to know which vegetables and fruits have fewer pesticide residues - if you can eat a little less, then eat a little less.

Generally speaking, fruits have less pesticide residue than vegetables. The ranking of vegetables' pesticide residues from high to low is: legumes > solanaceous fruits > Chinese cabbage group > leafy greens > taro, potato, and root vegetables > scallions and garlic group > melons and mushrooms.

Vegetables and fruits have different pesticide residue levels. Image from Visual China

Legumes such as cowpea, sword bean, and green beans, solanaceous fruits such as tomatoes, and leafy vegetables such as Chinese cabbage and spinach have relatively high pesticide residues. This is because they are more susceptible to pests and diseases, and pesticides are sprayed directly on the surface of the edible part, which has a large surface area, so pesticides are absorbed quickly.

Legumes such as green beans have the most pesticide residues. Image from Visual China

The edible parts of taro, potato, and root vegetables such as sweet potato, sweet potato, and lotus root are buried in the soil and do not directly contact pesticides, so residues are very few; seasonings such as scallions and garlic have a pungent, fragrant taste and can repel pests, so not much pesticide is needed to kill insects, and therefore residues are also relatively few.

Taro, potato, scallion, and garlic group vegetables have very few pesticide residues. Image from Visual China

Melons such as winter melon and pumpkin have strong resistance to pests and diseases themselves, so they do not need much pesticide spraying; mushrooms such as shiitake and enoki mushrooms can have their growing environment controlled artificially, and mushrooms are sensitive to pesticides, so they also do not need much pesticide.

Melons and mushrooms have the least pesticide residues. Image from Visual China

Of course, there are also vegetables that use no pesticides at all, namely the now very popular organic vegetables. Qualified organic vegetables must be identified and certified by an organic food certification body, and an organic food certificate must be issued.

Organic vegetables. Image from Yiguo official website

Everyone no longer needs to struggle over whether to buy fruit and vegetable detergent. Just rub and wash well under plain water, and rinse clean carefully. The pesticide residue problem is not serious. If you are really worried, just buy organic vegetables.

The article comes from Yiguo.com