Veggie Bathing (Minus the Rubber Duck)

Thanks to a recent Organic foods piece from Consumer Reports there's new hubbub about pesticide residue. The folks I work with are all in a froth because public attention on conventional food pesticides means more organic food sales (higher profit margins) and an opportunity to upsell a commercial fruit & vegetable wash.

I've always been a fan of produce washing (albeit not a compulsive one... an apple purchased from a fruit vendor on the street generally gets a vigorous rub on my clothing before consumption), and I worship my salad spinner. Spin-washing lettuces and herbs is surprisingly fun. Yank the cord! Yay! It spins! In addition, it's somehow satisfying watch all the soil collect in the bottom of the container.

Still, the advertising push for commercial washing fluids got me wondering whether a rinse in the sink was enough. Commercial washes have always seemed a bit dubious to me, like the tinctures, tonics, elixirs and potions peddlers once promoted as panacea. (Full disclosure: I also feel the recent antibacterial product craze is shady.) I mean, what's in those plastic squeeze bottles, anyway? The ingredients lists will tell you they're made of non-toxic ingredients, including "fragrances" and "surfectants." Since full disclosure isn't required by law for non-toxic household cleansers, consumers are supposed to be satisfied with these fabricated terms while the companies protect their "trade secrets."

The Environné VegiWash FAQs will at least reveal that they include Polysorbate 20, a sugar derived from fruit, and grapefruit seed extract, which may have some natural antibacterial qualities. So, sugar, citrus oil... sounds like something you could concoct at home, right? Many home cooks apparently use a DIY wash made with vinegar or lemon juice, while others go for baking soda scrubs.

It might interest you to know that while produce washing products such as Fit and Environné claim to remove more residues from produce than water alone, Cornell University disagrees, recommending a simple water wash with a scrub brush. (Cornell also cites water-washing recommendations from this country's three major food agencies: the EPA, FDA and USDA). Cornell's information, however, seems to be based around a desire to remove the microbial critters that cause foodborne illness. (Inexplicably, the University of Maine recommends using distilled water, rather than the standard tap variety.)

Given all the reading I've done, I think I'll stick with tap water and add in a splash of vinegar for the particularly manky surfaces. Besides... my veggie scrub brush (a sweet little alien dude with a bristle-brush head) is über-cute. Waaaay too cute to abandon to the junk drawer.