How to Wash Vegetables and Fruits to Remove Pesticides

Here’s a great article from the Food Revolution Network.
How to Wash Vegetables and Fruits to Remove Pesticides

An important takeaway for me is this:

Here’s a quick and easy way to wash veggies using baking soda:

For leafy greens

• • Fill a salad spinner with greens, then fill with water.
  • Add a teaspoon of baking soda and mix well.
  • Soak your greens for a minute, swish, dump, then rinse, and spin dry.
  • If you don’t have a salad spinner, you can add the greens, water, and baking soda to a bowl, let them soak, drain in a strainer, rinse, then pat leaves dry with a clean lint-free kitchen towel or paper towels.

For mushrooms

There is some debate in the culinary world about how to clean mushrooms.

Some chefs prefer to gently wipe mushrooms with a damp towel. However, to clean mushrooms thoroughly, you can gently scrub mushrooms using a mushroom brush and then rinse them quickly under running water. After that, blot the mushrooms dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel.

For other veggies

• • Fill a large bowl with water.
  • Then add a teaspoon of baking soda.
  • Add the veggies.
  • Soak for a minute or two.
  • Scrub with a brush.
  • And finally, rinse off the veggies.

How to Wash Fruits

Smooth skinned fruits, such as apples, nectarines, and cherries, can be washed in a baking soda bath the same way as veggies.

Berries can be rinsed under cold water in a mesh strainer, then gently patted dry with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels just before you intend to eat them.

Although your instinct may be to rinse off berries when you bring them home, doing so actually increases moisture and accelerates spoilage, microflora, and mold. Which is why it’s best to rinse them soon before you eat them.

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