Fruit, Vegetables and Pesticides.

September 29, 2020 admin 0

Fruit and Vegetable consumption, in case you have been living under a rock for most of your life, is widely appreciated to be  an essential addition to the human diet. The consumption of such plant stuffs can often provide you with a variety of nutrients and prevent certain types of illnesses and diseases from developing, in a number of well documented ways. This can be from any one nutrient, any one particular fruit or vegetable may contain, be it fibre, vitamins or phyto-nutrients.

One debate that has raged on in recent years concerns the use of pesticides in the growth of fruit and veg and if their consumption should be limited because of potential contamination and health risks from ingestion of them. Some naysayers even recommend you don’t consume fruit or vegetables that have been exposed to pesticides even though they still may contain valuable nutrients also. The availability of organic produce has made the choices available very widespread and often in large multiples, they are competitively priced to encourage buyers to purchase them over conventional products.Some fruits and vegetables are more susceptible to pesticide contamination than others, this can be for various reasons, but the main ones are if the product has been treated with a pesticide and what type, and how the plant itself absorbed them.

Some species are less susceptible to being effected, internally by pesticides than others, and we have addressed these below.The following, are probably best avoided, if they have been grown conventionally:

Peaches, Apples, Celery, Peppers, Strawberries, Cherries, Grapes, Spinach, Lettuce and Leaves, Carrots, Potatoes, Cucumbers, Plums, Beans, Raspberries, Nectarines. 

These are considerably less likely to contain harmful levels of pesticides, they need less treatment and also are more resistant to the absorption of them:

Onions, Brocolli, Melon, Tomatoes, Blueberries, Mango, Kiwi, Cauliflower, Squash, Papaya, Pineapple, Bananas, Cabbage, Peas, Corn, Avocados.

You might be wondering why citrus fruits do not appear in these lists, but it is somewhat of a gamble depending on country of origin, farming and growing methods etc. If these are available organic, they should be prioritized over conventional. Soft skin also does not always mean likely to be high in residual pesticides, Blueberries for instance are often grown without pesticides anyway, simply because it is not necessary to incur the expense of their use to maintain high yield levels.

You can use the information above to prioritize your organic purchases of fruit and vegetables and possibly purchase conventional versions of produce on the less likely list. It is advisable to wash fruit and vegetables even if they are organic, thoroughly to remove dust, dirt, residues and other undesirables elements from them.

References :

Cumulative dietary risk characterisation of pesticides that have acute effects on the nervous system.European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Craig PS, Dujardin B, Hart A, Hernández-Jerez AF, Hougaard Bennekou S, Kneuer C, Ossendorp B, Pedersen R, Wolterink G, Mohimont L.EFSA J. 2020 Apr 29;18(4):e06087. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2020.6087. eCollection 2020 Apr.PMID: 32874295 

Impact of Pesticide Type and Emulsion Fat Content on the Bioaccessibility of Pesticides in Natural Products.Zhang R, Zhang Z, Li R, Tan Y, Lv S, McClements DJ.Molecules. 2020 Mar 24;25(6):1466. doi: 10.3390/molecules25061466.PMID: 32213953 

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