Organic Food - Foods Vulnerable to Residues

There are certain fruits and vegetables that still retain residues from harmful artificial fertilizers or pesticides even though they have already been banned for a long time. This is because the residues can remain in the soils for decades, and the roots of the plant take up these residues.

According to the findings of the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP), covering testing done in 2004, over three-quarters of the conventional produce contained residues (78%), while 16% of the organic samples contained residues.

For example, conventional apples were found to contain, on average, 3.6 residues, while the one positive organic sample had a very minute level of the post-harvest fungicide thiabendazole. The level of residue found in the one positive organic apple sample was 0.0002 parts per million, while the mean thiabendazole residue found in 641 positive conventional samples was 0.43 ppm, over 2100 times higher than the level found in the organic sample.

Why Residues Found in Organic Food
Pesticides are ubiquitous and mobile across agricultural landscapes. Many positive organic samples in the PDP tests contain low levels of pesticides used on nearby conventional crops that have moved across field boundaries by drift or through use of contaminated irrigation water. Soil-bound residues of persistent pesticides used years ago, before the farmer switched to organic methods, account for a large portion of the residues found in vegetables and root crops, especially squashes.

Cross-contamination is the main cause of low-level fungicide residues. The movement of a post-harvest fungicide applied to conventional apples reached organic apples. This could have occurred in a cold storage facility, or it might have happened during trucking or even in a store if a box of treated conventional apples were placed too close to a box of organic apples.

Therefore, it is very important that special measures must be in placed to separate the handling of conventional and organic produce in order to prevent this sort of inadvertent cross-contamination.

Removing Residues
When eating non-organic or conventional fruits and vegetables, it is advised that you wash them thoroughly to remove as much residues as possible, and that peel fruits and root of vegetables.

• Experts recommends peelings the skin of fruits. But note that two-third of the fibre and most of antioxidants are usually found in the peel of apples, for example.
• At a minimum rinse all fresh produce under tap water for at least thirty seconds. The mechanical action of rubbing the produce under tap water is likely responsible for removing pesticide residues.
• However, a study had shown that mild detergents or fruit and vegetable washes do not enhance the removal of pesticide residues from produce above that of rinsing with tap water alone.

Let's Learn & Experience Organics for Better Personal Health & Our Planet Wellness