Washing produce doesn’t remove pesticides, a study has found, as people with apples are being warned to PEEL apples instead. Another report found pesticide levels posing ‘significant risks’ in 20 per cent of tested fruits and vegetables. The paper, published on Wednesday in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, warns there is fresh evidence that washing fruit before eating does not remove various toxic chemicals commonly used in agriculture.
Traditional “fruit-cleaning operations cannot wholly remove pesticides”, the paper states. When using the technique to examine an apple, for instance, the researchers said the “imaging results prove that the pesticides penetrate the peel layer into the pulp layer”. READ MORE £300 Winter Fuel Payment 'saved' update after petition hits 300,000 “This study, situated within the expansive realm of food safety, endeavors to furnish health guidance to consumers,” said Dongdong Ye, a professor with China’s School of Materials and Chemistry at Anhui Agricultural University and an author of the paper.
Rather than fostering undue apprehension, the research posits that peeling can effectively eliminate nearly all pesticide residues, contrasted with the frequently recommended practice of washing.” Consumer Reports senior scientist Michael Hansen has also spoken out. He said: “This is actually useful for understanding how these pesticides move in.
This is more science showing that, yes, there are concerns. Don.