Baking soda removes most of the pesticides from fruits and vegetables, providing a cheap cleaning solution.

Do you scrub your fruits and veggies? Well, some of us can’t imagine scrubbing fresh produce for hours after returning from the supermarket. Some just like to do a quick rinse. This may not be a bad thing if you buy organic foods. But, you will have to do some scrubbing if your food is treated with pesticides.

What about baking soda? Have you ever used it?

Study results

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry confirms that baking soda can remove pesticides from fruits and vegetables. A team of experts at the University of Massachusetts used baking soda to clean gala apples. The results?

Researchers used thiabendazole and phosmet to organic apples. Thiabendazole penetrates apple skin and phosmet is often used.

3 ways to remove pesticides from fresh produce

The fruit was cleaned in three different ways:

1. Tap water
2. A 1% baking soda/water solution
3. Bleach solution approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency

 The ultimate way to remove pesticides

Tap water and bleach product didn’t remove pesticides completely even after a two-minute scrubbing. Baking soda did wonders in much less than that. It removed the toxins completely.

Baking soda solution removes 80% of the thiabendazole from apples after 12 and 15-minute soaks. It showed better results in removing the phosmet (96%).

Thiabendazole and phosmet are really different. The first goes 80 micrometers deep in the apple. Phosmet goes about 20 micrometers deep in the fruit.

DIY methods to remove pesticides

Baking soda is often mixed with water, vinegar, or lemon juice into a spray bottle. It’s easy to use and you should rinse the produce before consuming.

Pesticide-packed foods

The Environmental Working Group has released the Dirty Dozen list of the foods with the highest level of pesticides:

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Nectarines
5. Apples
6. Grapes
7. Peaches
8. Cherries
9. Pears
10. Tomatoes
11. Celery
12. Potatoes

Here’s the Clean Fifteen:

1. Avocados
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapple
4. Onions
5. Papaya
6. Sweet peas (frozen)
7. Eggplants
8. Asparagus
9. Cauliflower
10. Cantaloupes
11. Broccoli
12. Mushrooms
13. Cabbage
14. Honeydew melon
15. Kiwi

Final words

Always buy organic produce and clean your food properly. Baking soda is cheap and effective, and you really need to have a pack of it in your kitchen.

Source: www.businessinsider.com