Post by Trade Coach on Apr 17, 2022 19:46:10 GMT 1
How To Prepare Fruits And Vegetables For Export – Methods Of Removing Germs, Pesticide Residues And Other Impurities
Did you know that fruits and vegetables have pores like your skin? Soap products can get trapped in the pores. There are some kinds of soaps designed to be used on agricultural produce, but they are not more effective than ordinary water alone.
Though no method of washing off pesticide residues, germs, and dirt from vegetables and fruits is 100% effective, but washing with water reduces dirt, germs and pesticide residues remaining on fresh fruit and vegetable surfaces.
Washing and rubbing produce under running water is better than dunking it. You must wash fruits and vegetables from the farm or market before using them.
If you are desirous of exporting vegetables and fruits abroad, you must adhere to the rules and conditions put together by some recognized government organizations in European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA).
In the USA for example, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) control the amount of pesticide residue allowed on foods to ensure food safety.
Any pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables must comply with the regulation. The residue limits set by EPA are known as tolerances. The EPA works to ensure reasonable certainty of no harm to infants, children and adults from eating small amounts of pesticides in food.
The FDA advises that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is very important for a person’s healthy diet.
The following are recommendations to follow so as to reduce the risk of exposure to pesticides and germs in fruits and vegetables:
Wash your fruits and vegetables even if you do not plan to eat the skin of the fruit. Some will say because they are not eating the skin, therefore there is no need of washing the skin of the fruit.
You must wash your hands with soap and warm water before and after handling your fresh fruits and vegetables.
During the washing of the fresh fruits and vegetables, you have to hold the fresh fruit or vegetable under flowing water in a strainer. Washing this way removes more germs, dirt and pesticides than dunking the produce. Our local farmers are used to dunking vegetables and fruits, that is, they just dip the produce into drums or tanks; this is not an effective way of washing vegetables and fresh fruits especially for export.
The FDA does not recommend washing fruits and vegetables with soaps, detergent or commercial produce wash. They have not really proven to be more effective than using water alone.
Scrub farm produce like melons and potatoes with a clean brush. Using brush on farm produce can actually remove more dirt, germs and pesticide residues.
You also can rub soft produce like grapes while holding them under running water to remove pesticide residues.
Discard the outer layers of leafy produce like lettuce and cucumbers.
If the situation requires heating to help get rid of pesticide residue, you can do so but remember that you are liable to lose some nutrients.
More facts on how to wash your produce:
Like we have been discussing, washing your produce by rinsing it under cold water is the best. This method works well to remove most of the pesticides from the produce.
Scientists at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; found that washing produce with running water reduced the amount of pesticide residue for 9 out of 12 tested pesticides. As we can see, running water works well, but what can we say about products called “produce cleaners”; should we use them or not? Research shows that using the so-called produce cleaners is no more effective than using plain water.
But wait a minute: Salt water, vinegar water, baking soda water, etc. In a study published in Food Control in 2006, researchers washed vegetables for 20 minutes in vinegar water, a salt water solution, and plain water to eliminate the residue of four (4) common pesticides residues – Chlorpyrifos, DDT, Cypermethrin, and Chlorothalonil. They discovered that a 10% of salt water solution was the most effective and far more effective than washing with plain water.
Which way now is the best: Another study in 2017, published by the journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry; they found out that baking soda water solution was the most effective in removing pesticide residues both on the surface and beneath the skin of apples.
We will continue to bring to you the best ways of achieving clean fruits and vegetables for export.
Our company is one of the best companies in Agro-Export Business in Nigeria today, we train individuals and corporate organizations on how to do Export Business the right way; if you are interested, please contact the admin of this forum now for further details.
Did you know that fruits and vegetables have pores like your skin? Soap products can get trapped in the pores. There are some kinds of soaps designed to be used on agricultural produce, but they are not more effective than ordinary water alone.
Though no method of washing off pesticide residues, germs, and dirt from vegetables and fruits is 100% effective, but washing with water reduces dirt, germs and pesticide residues remaining on fresh fruit and vegetable surfaces.
Washing and rubbing produce under running water is better than dunking it. You must wash fruits and vegetables from the farm or market before using them.
If you are desirous of exporting vegetables and fruits abroad, you must adhere to the rules and conditions put together by some recognized government organizations in European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA).
In the USA for example, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) control the amount of pesticide residue allowed on foods to ensure food safety.
Any pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables must comply with the regulation. The residue limits set by EPA are known as tolerances. The EPA works to ensure reasonable certainty of no harm to infants, children and adults from eating small amounts of pesticides in food.
The FDA advises that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables is very important for a person’s healthy diet.
The following are recommendations to follow so as to reduce the risk of exposure to pesticides and germs in fruits and vegetables:
Wash your fruits and vegetables even if you do not plan to eat the skin of the fruit. Some will say because they are not eating the skin, therefore there is no need of washing the skin of the fruit.
You must wash your hands with soap and warm water before and after handling your fresh fruits and vegetables.
During the washing of the fresh fruits and vegetables, you have to hold the fresh fruit or vegetable under flowing water in a strainer. Washing this way removes more germs, dirt and pesticides than dunking the produce. Our local farmers are used to dunking vegetables and fruits, that is, they just dip the produce into drums or tanks; this is not an effective way of washing vegetables and fresh fruits especially for export.
The FDA does not recommend washing fruits and vegetables with soaps, detergent or commercial produce wash. They have not really proven to be more effective than using water alone.
Scrub farm produce like melons and potatoes with a clean brush. Using brush on farm produce can actually remove more dirt, germs and pesticide residues.
You also can rub soft produce like grapes while holding them under running water to remove pesticide residues.
Discard the outer layers of leafy produce like lettuce and cucumbers.
If the situation requires heating to help get rid of pesticide residue, you can do so but remember that you are liable to lose some nutrients.
More facts on how to wash your produce:
Like we have been discussing, washing your produce by rinsing it under cold water is the best. This method works well to remove most of the pesticides from the produce.
Scientists at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; found that washing produce with running water reduced the amount of pesticide residue for 9 out of 12 tested pesticides. As we can see, running water works well, but what can we say about products called “produce cleaners”; should we use them or not? Research shows that using the so-called produce cleaners is no more effective than using plain water.
But wait a minute: Salt water, vinegar water, baking soda water, etc. In a study published in Food Control in 2006, researchers washed vegetables for 20 minutes in vinegar water, a salt water solution, and plain water to eliminate the residue of four (4) common pesticides residues – Chlorpyrifos, DDT, Cypermethrin, and Chlorothalonil. They discovered that a 10% of salt water solution was the most effective and far more effective than washing with plain water.
Which way now is the best: Another study in 2017, published by the journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry; they found out that baking soda water solution was the most effective in removing pesticide residues both on the surface and beneath the skin of apples.
We will continue to bring to you the best ways of achieving clean fruits and vegetables for export.
Our company is one of the best companies in Agro-Export Business in Nigeria today, we train individuals and corporate organizations on how to do Export Business the right way; if you are interested, please contact the admin of this forum now for further details.