Do they put preservatives on produce?

Status
Not open for further replies.

JHZR2

Staff member
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
52,631
Location
New Jersey
Hi,

Since being on detail to Arlington, Ive been shopping at Harris Teeter supermarkets. Nice markets, nice stuff sold there (but a little pricey). Ive been buying some organic stuff, since it is more or less the same price as the regular stuff. Ive noted that spinach that is organic doesnt last as long, nor does romaine lettuce.

I didnt think they put preservatives on frsh, live cut vegetables... Do they?

Maybe there isnt as much turnover on the organic stuff... or maybe the extra fertilizer on normal stuff keeps it better???

Thanks,

JMH
 
Many fruits and vegetables are commonly coated with wax or mineral oil for looks and probably to keep them fresh. Personally, I don't like that. The organic produce may not be coated. Ask the manager at the store.
 
alot of produce, reguardless of being organic or not, is packed right in the field as it's picked. lettuce is often packed that way.
my only guess is that it is different companies handling it before it gets to the market or they are coming from completely different areas and the orgainc is a bit older.
 
Another technique used is in produce is to put the boxes of fruit/veg into a container of very great vacuum. It pulls some moisture from the produce, and the latent heat of evaporation snap cools the produce, so that it's instantly cold to the core.

Then the transport company/supermarket only has to keep it cool.

Maybe small producers don't have access to these ?

I wouldn't think that they'd nuke fresh produce, but I've heard sillier.
 
If it's not organic most will have enough preservatives to kill a horse. Buy real food and everybody wins. Check out your local farmers market. The best part is giving the money direct to the farmers who get shafted by the multinational chains.
 
Strange. I remember my mother telling me to wash fruit before I ate it because of pesticides. I always had this feeling that it didn't much matter as the pesticides were probably designed to NOT wash off easily in water.
 
Interesting, thanks!

Id venture to guess that lettuce and spinach does not have any waxlike coating. Apples, yes!

Ive heard that certain fruits tend to keep more pesticides in them. For exmaple, if you had to pick one fruit or vegetable to buy organic, it should be strawberries, as they pull up and keep more pesticides in them. all the same, it appears (from the corn and I hate ethanol forum) that LOTS of pesticides are used on most anything... Im sure it has its toll even with lettuce, etc.

Im going to start seeing about the farmer's markets. Especially in NJ (the garden state!!!) there is a LOT of farming (contrary to popular belief). Supporting the farmers so they stay in the state is a good thing... we have enough people and sprawl.

JMH
 
Yes some greens ARE sprayed with sulfites (and other stuff) - I try to buy organic - but even that is not perfect. This area has many more farmer's markets.

I need more land. Grow my own!
 
One of the problems with this is that the USA imports a large amount of fruits and vegs from other countries.Many of the countries do not have any enviromential conserns at all.Some countries are still activly useing DDT.

If a product is not well washed and then a wax coating is applied then you are sealing in any pestisides , fertilizer dirt ext.

The fruits with a thicker peal are less likely to absorb any sprayed on chemicals than a thin skined fruit... Bananas , Melons , Mango ,Papayas ect are food you normally wont eat the skins / peals anyway....But the thin skined Apples , Pears , Peaches ect ...

I know people who wont eat the skins even tho the skins and just under the skins contain alot of the nutrients....So they peal them first.

Personally I love Mangos and Papayas .... I eat them weekly... Many of the Papaya's I find are grown in Hawaii but the Mangos and other Papayas are imported from Mexico , Brazil , Venesulia , Leeche nuts from China , Grapes from Chili ect ect..... And sometimes you just have to wonder how these have been handled or treated.

Either way one should be at least aware of the possibility of unhealthy stuff on ones food.
 
quote:

I know people who wont eat the skins even tho the skins and just under the skins contain alot of the nutrients....So they peal them first.

I peel fruit and veggies that can be peeled, but I take multivitamins, too. Not sure how many nutrients you really lose by peeling. Look at supermarket fruit; it gets harvested while not yet ripe and probably doesn't have many nutrients (or taste) to begin with.

One of my local markets drives me nuts by rubbing oil on their produce. Maybe it's old motor oil...
freak2.gif


The hydroponic butter lettuce ("It's alive!") at another local market is okay and (mostly) pesticide-free.
 
quote:

Originally posted by moribundman:
I peel fruit and veggies that can be peeled, but I take multivitamins, too. Not sure how many nutrients you really lose by peeling.

I think tis not just the 'vitamin' content, but the other nutritious compounds in there... flavonoids and what not.

JMH
 
If you wash your fruit as we do when we can't get organic you must use soap in some form as yes the pesticides are designed to not be water soluble for obvious reasons.
 
in some instances the difference between organic and non organic is form in which the chemicals were applied to it. in certain situations a chemical in pellet form is considered "organic" but the same chemical applied in liquid form is not.
just remember organic does not mean chemical free, it just means it was grown under certain rules.
 
Actually, I use product specifically designed to was fruit and veggies. It does not leave more chemicals (basically lethal drying agent) behind like dish soap does.


JHZR2, I get my flavenoids from onions and cocoa. Thanks for being worried about my nutrition, though!
wink.gif
 
quote:

in some instances the difference between organic and non organic is form in which the chemicals were applied to it. in certain situations a chemical in pellet form is considered "organic" but the same chemical applied in liquid form is not.
just remember organic does not mean chemical free, it just means it was grown under certain rules.

There are different definitions for "organic and "organically grown" depending on country and maybe even region. "Organically grown" stuff can be grown on soil that thas not been contaminated with pesticide for a specific number of years, while "organic" food must be grown on soil that has never been exposed to chemicals (beyond the "normal" and unavoidable "fallout"). The term "organic" has until recently been used very loosely in the US. It may have changed by now.

The last "organic tea" test that I saw revealed a popular Chinese tea that was so contaminated with heavy metals that it had to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Wonder it it was organic, though?
wink.gif


These days I buy fruit and veggies depending on how they look and taste. To a large degree it comes down to who you trust that their stuff isn't full of chemical nasties. The label "organic" all by itself is to me worthless without any independent authority veryfying such claims through at least random testing.
 
quote:

The last "organic tea" test that I saw revealed a popular Chinese tea that was so contaminated with heavy metals that it had to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Wonder it it was organic, though?

Wow, mind telling us which brand is it?
 
Organic farming here is very tightly controlled. I listened to a tropical fruit grower from North Queensland talking about the amount of paperwork he has to fill out every day. Everything that enters or leaves his property has to be logged. One wheat farmer sprayed some wheat at night with pesticide, got caught and six months in the slammer for a first offence. That made people think twice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top