How to Clean Strawberries With Baking Soda – If you don’t have vinegar on hand or want to avoid any residual vinegar taste, you can soak your strawberries in a baking soda and water solution to clean them. Add 1 tsp. of baking soda to 4 cups of water, and soak your strawberries in a large bowl for five minutes.
Contents
Should I wash organic strawberries?
First Why You Should Clean Strawberries – Unwashed berries, like many kinds of fresh produce, can have dirt, bacteria, and pesticides living on the surface. So, in order to not ingest said dirt, bacteria, and pesticides, it’s super important to wash them thoroughly before you eat them!
How do you wash bacteria to remove strawberries?
How to Clean Strawberries With Vinegar – While rinsing strawberries with cold tap water is an easy, effective cleaning method, you may be concerned that water alone won’t rinse the pesticides off conventional (non-organic) fruit. Never fear: vinegar can help rinse off pesticide residue as well as dirt or bacteria.
Are organic strawberries without pesticides?
Strawberries garnered special attention this year as Arysta LifeScience, a global pesticide corporation, aggressively promoted the chemical methyl iodide for use in California’s strawberry industry. It was dubbed “one of the most toxic chemicals on earth” by Dr.
Join Froines, chair of the state’s Scientific Review Committee for the pesticide. Pesticide Action Network, partners and tens of thousands of Californians rallied to keep methyl iodide out of agriculture. The Department of Pesticide Regulation is expected to issue a final decision on registering the new fumigant in the coming months.
Public opinion aligns firmly against use of the chemical. New science on the superiority of strawberries grown organically – without methyl iodide – bolsters the case. Researchers at Washington State University compared organic and industrial berries over five years, and published their results last month in the prestigious journal PLoS ONE, in an article titled, “Fruit and Soil Quality of Organic and Conventional Strawberry Agroecosystems.” The scientists found that compared to industrial berries, organic strawberries have:
More antioxidants and vitamin C A longer shelf life Better taste and sweetness
And one thing organic strawberries don’t have: pesticide residues. The secret is in the soil, scientists found. Organically farmed soils pack a nutritious punch, with higher levels of carbon, nitrogen and important micronutrients. Organic farming enhances food quality by building soil quality – a key point highlighted in the September 3rd National Public Radio show Science Friday,
Can you eat unwashed organic fruit?
My wife Kaisari got a shock last week when she tried to buy a bunch of cilantro at a local produce market in Lake Worth. We were in Alexandria, Va., with our son Asad for more than two months, and there she grumbled when she had to pay a dollar or more for a bunch; here, she was used to often getting three bunches for a dollar at the neighborhood Hispanic market. Imagine her shock then when the price for a single bunch was tagged at more than $2 each! In Florida! We learned later from a friend, who is in the supply business, that the import from Mexico was halted sometime ago because of a pathogenic contamination issue. The same thing had happened a few months earlier with the small green chili peppers. Those peppers just disappeared one day – here, and in Virginia, and they are still hard to come by. In the world today, with long-range transportation so easy and ubiquitous, commerce in foods and most other consumer goods constantly flow across international borders and time zones, even hemispheres, making the idea of things being “seasonal” all but outdated. When it is summer here, it is winter in South America and Australia. Great for most of us and on most occasions. But then laws and rules governing agriculture and commercial production – and the sanitary practices entailed – may be much more lax and even nonexistent in some countries. Unfortunately, many tainted produce and products from outside slip through the net of our stricter regulations, which sometimes are flouted even within our borders. Fortunately though, God has given our own bodies the sentinels to fight off most of the contaminant attacks, except perhaps for some who are too young, too old or too weak to defend against a virulent onslaught. And you hear about these cases on the newscast far more often than you would like to. And you wonder how you can bolster your own defenses to guard yourselves and your loved ones. Here are some measures that health experts suggest, and my wife – a health nut herself – enforces in our household, and enjoins upon our two sons. Rule No.1, never eat, or even bite into any fresh fruits, vegetables or salad leaves or herbs that have not been thoroughly washed – drying optional. Things even from the most reliable source like Publix can be tainted; you can’t see or smell bacteria or most other contaminants. Washing is absolutely essential for items in this category that you will eat uncooked, vegetables such as cucumbers and fruits like apples, as well as salads and fresh herbs. Even those that will be part of a cooked dish will be better off with a cleansing shower. “Washing,” however, is much more than a perfunctory pass under the running sink faucet. For hard veggies and fruits, it means a pretty vigorous rubdown under the said faucet, followed by an equally energetic drying with a kitchen towel. This also will minimize the surface residue of any harmful fertilizers or pesticides. Softer fruits or leafy salads and herbs present a challenge. I would wash them thoroughly with the faucet set to shower, then place them briefly in a bowl or pan of cold water with a tablespoon or two of vinegar. Shake out as much of the water as you can and gently pat dry between paper towels. Herbs like cilantro then can be gathered in a bunch and set upright in a tall glass and refrigerated. Soft and textured fruits, such as strawberries, that will be consumed immediately can be washed in batches. Or you can wash and dry the whole container and store them in the fridge in an airy basket, even the original one after a good scrub. It is a good idea to pick out, discard or trim any rotting fruits. A final caution: Do not cut into any hard fruits such as apples and oranges before washing, even to peel them before eating. Any unwashed contaminant or infection present on the surface will easily travel within, both from the knife blade and your hands. Do not cut corners. It is always better to make an effort to be safe now than to be sorry later.
Do you have to wash organic fruit before you eat it?
Yes, organic growers do use some approved pesticides very minimally, and you should wash off organic produce just as you do regular produce, but going for organic is the best way to protect yourself from the most concerning pesticides.