Vegetables contaminated with chemicals

[davidst01]

Im a bit paranoid after reading the article below. Sometimes I stop at the markets to get some fruit and vege and now dont know if I should. 

 

Would this article apply to vege/ fruit purchased at Macro? 

 

If we have the means, would you think its a better option to only buy fruit and vege at 'Top Supermarket' - which is an expensive option but possibly best quality and thus less exposure to this problem?

 

Whats your opinion on this?

thanks

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

I just wash carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes. It's not practical to peel all those. I wondered why i was going a bit toxic green colour

 

 

[Sheryl]

No reason to assume the supermarket produce has any less of the chemicals than the fresh markets.  Pre-washed produce may have a bit less, that's all.

 

Your best option is just to wash thoroughly.  Soaking first in a solution with baking soda or vinegar then rinse off under running water thoroughly

[SiamAndy]

30 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

No reason to assume the supermarket produce has any less of the chemicals than the fresh markets.  Pre-washed produce may have a bit less, that's all.

 

Your best option is just to wash thoroughly.  Soaking first in a solution with baking soda or vinegar then rinse off under running water thoroughly

To create the solution, what should the ratio of baking soda or white vinegar to water be?

[Moonlover]

@davidst01 If you read the full article in Thai BPS, you will come across the following paragraph:

 

"She went on to say that fresh fruit and vegetables on the shelves of large department stores were more contaminated than those sold in local fresh markets, adding that products that are labeled as meeting GAP and GMP standards are safer as only 26% were found to be contaminated".

 

My wife always prefers to shop at the local markets and I trust her judgement, especially after reading this.

[how241]

A hard scrubbing with help lessen the chemicals  BUT  you can't get rid of what has been absorbed into the skin unless you remove the skin.  Of course,  they say the skin is very high in good vitamins so you can't really win...haha.  Good Luck to us all !!!  Happy Eating !

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

No reason to assume the supermarket produce has any less of the chemicals than the fresh markets.  Pre-washed produce may have a bit less, that's all.

 

Your best option is just to wash thoroughly.  Soaking first in a solution with baking soda or vinegar then rinse off under running water thoroughly

Vinegar is probably a better choice, at pH 2-3. Baking soda is not as strong, pH 9 against neutral pH of 7.

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Vinegar is probably a better choice, at pH 2-3. Baking soda is not as strong, pH 9 against neutral pH of 7.

 

With both vinegar and baking soda the strength will depend on the concentration. Vinegar of course is acidic and baking soda is  alkaline but what is important is that in water both release ions that can bond with  pesticide compounds.

 

the evidence seems better for baking soda as I have seen at least a few studies where vinegar use I have seen only websites saying it helps, no hard data.

 

But results will vary depending on the exact pesticide(s)  involved which of course is often  an unknown.

[THAIJAMES]

2 hours ago, SiamAndy said:

To create the solution, what should the ratio of baking soda or white vinegar to water be?

Don't mix them together!  they will cancel each other out.

I first soak in Baking soda for a least 15 minutes, rinse thoroughly and then 15 or more minutes of white vinegar.

 

According to the article using white vinegar you can remove up to 50% of the pesticide.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, SiamAndy said:

To create the solution, what should the ratio of baking soda or white vinegar to water be?

 

I've seen 10% concentration of vinegar and 10 mg/mL  concentration of baking soda (i.e. 2 full teaspoons per liter of water)mentioned.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, FredGallaher said:

Did they also compare vegetables from European or US stores? Large industrial farms use a lot of chemicals. They spray them from airplanes. 

 

The testing was done by a Thai non-profit using a lab in the UK, and only tested fruits and veggies sold at various Thai supermarkets and fresh markets.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

18 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

the evidence seems better for baking soda as I have seen at least a few studies where vinegar use I have seen only websites saying it helps, no hard data.

 

But results will vary depending on the exact pesticide(s)  involved which of course is often  an unknown.

 

As noted above, there's pesticide residues that sit on the surface of fruits and veggies and can be washed off to whatever extent...  And then there's pesticide residues that are absorbed into the flesh of the fruit or veggie via its roots or tree and presumably cannot be washed off.

 

Washing obviously is better than nothing, but it only gets you so far.

 

[THAIJAMES]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

 

With both vinegar and baking soda the strength will depend on the concentration. Vinegar of course is acidic and baking soda is  alkaline but what is important is that in water both release ions that can bond with  pesticide compounds.

 

the evidence seems better for baking soda as I have seen at least a few studies where vinegar use I have seen only websites saying it helps, no hard data.

 

But results will vary depending on the exact pesticide(s)  involved which of course is often  an unknown.

I think that's the reason for using both baking soda and vinegar separately because each of those work on different pesticides.

Since we don't know which pesticide was used it's probably better to use both.

 

They both absorb different kind of chemicals.

[GroupA]

Make sore to rinse between because one is acidic and the other is basic. Not rinsing will result in some nutrialization of second washing chemical. Of course you need to rinse when done.

[uhuh]

If you read the article thoroughly you will notice that products from cold climates are the most contaminated. 

I avoid fruit and vegetables from cold climates because many of them are imported from China,  the country where you could sell melamine as milk powder.

Many Thais avoid groceries from China.

[Lacessit]

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

With both vinegar and baking soda the strength will depend on the concentration. Vinegar of course is acidic and baking soda is  alkaline but what is important is that in water both release ions that can bond with  pesticide compounds.

 

the evidence seems better for baking soda as I have seen at least a few studies where vinegar use I have seen only websites saying it helps, no hard data.

 

But results will vary depending on the exact pesticide(s)  involved which of course is often  an unknown.

In other words, it's a lottery where sequential washing with baking soda, rinse, wash with vinegar, rinse would probably be the most effective option for surface contamination. My GF just washes vegetables with water, and we are both still here.

[THAIJAMES]

It's also important to note that if you rotate vegetables and don't eat too much of one vegetable then you reduce your exposure to any one chemical.

 

Also I believe that a lot of the pungent spices will actually absorb some poisons and chemicals in your body.

 

 

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, DonDoRondo said:

I always thought organic produce meant no pesticides.  Why not go that route?

Usually. "organic" produce is more expensive. The other problem in Thailand is anyone can slap on a fraudulent label, because it is unlikely the fraud will be detected.

[Sheryl]

I've read articles here that reported analyses of Thai produce sold as organic.

In a nutshell: still pesticide content but on average less in amount than non"organic".

So should still wash organic produce thoroughly.

For those not wanting to do vinegar or baking soda soaks, vigorous washing (and scrubbing where applicable) will certainly reduce amount of contamination as compared to not doing anything.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Usually. "organic" produce is more expensive. The other problem in Thailand is anyone can slap on a fraudulent label, because it is unlikely the fraud will be detected.

 

There's little to no meaningful enforcement / regulation of the use of the "organic" label here in Thailand.

 

That said, in the very small sampling of so-called organic products that Thai-PAN did in their most recent survey, the Thai-certified organics had varying levels of pesticide residues, but the internationally certified organic products came out pretty much clean.

 

 

In the last row above, their info shows that of the six samples they tested that were internationally certified organic, they found no pesticide residues.

 

But in several of the other Thai-certified categories, up to half or more of the items had pesticide levels that either exceeded regulatory limits or were under limits but still detectable.

 

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

There's little to no meaningful enforcement / regulation of the use of the "organic" label here in Thailand.

 

That said, in the very small sampling of so-called organic products that Thai-PAN did in their most recent survey, the Thai-certified organics had varying levels of pesticide residues, but the internationally certified organic products came out pretty much clean.

 

 

In the last row above, their info shows that of the six samples they tested that were internationally certified organic, they found no pesticide residues.

 

But in several of the other Thai-certified categories, up to half or more of the items had pesticide levels that either exceeded regulatory limits or were under limits but still detectable.

 

If the produce was internationally certified, that suggests the analysis was done outside Thailand. It's possible some pesticide residue testing can be done here at a lower level of sophistication.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

If the produce was internationally certified, that suggests the analysis was done outside Thailand. It's possible some pesticide residue testing can be done here at a lower level of sophistication.

 

The label certification is different than/separate from the Thai-PAN testing...

 

Thai-PAN does their testing via a commercial lab in the UK typically, probably because any testing done here in Thailand would have little or no credibility.

 

That's separate from whatever testing the product producers may have their items go through as part of the label certification process. And I can't tell from the TH-language only Thai-PAN report whether those few internationally certified products that they reported on were Thai-grown or imports.

 

 

[mooping20Baht]

I wonder if buying produce that in other countries is known to require less pesticides,   eg  cabbage , cauliflower, cantaloupe, pineapple    -all good

 

potatoes , tomatoes, hot peppers , apples , stawberries  -- bad

 

would be the same in  Thailand ?   or perhaps growing methods might differ in different regions

 

what percentage of produce is actually grown in Thailand at a fresh market in Bangkok ?  Can't imagine Farms in Isarn producing  much beyond rice and rubber

 

[likerdup1]

On 6/27/2019 at 1:33 PM, SiamAndy said:

To create the solution, what should the ratio of baking soda or white vinegar to water be?

Baking Soda is a "base" in chemist terms and Vinegar is an Acid in chemist terms. If you put equal amount of each in water they chemically cancel each other out... .. for Acid burns one would apply something alkaline to cancel it. I would assume you should use EITHER vinegar OR baking soda. Not both together

[puck2]

By experience here in our area  I know that the people believe- 3-times the emphasized volume of pesticides is better than the normal amount. It kills the insects, beetles etc. at least 3 times  !

 

But nobody knows how to extract the poison after harvesting.

 

Therefore, if you are lucky to have a garden, harvest your own vegetable (the threat name). Then you have the control over "chemicals". 

 

Or knowing somebody who doesn't use chemicals extremely and would sell the vegetables to you. This also applies to fruits. 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, likerdup1 said:

Baking Soda is a "base" in chemist terms and Vinegar is an Acid in chemist terms. If you put equal amount of each in water they chemically cancel each other out... .. for Acid burns one would apply something alkaline to cancel it. I would assume you should use EITHER vinegar OR baking soda. Not both together

Correct. Although they could be used sequentially.

[likerdup1]

3 minutes ago, FredGallaher said:

You correct but its not always a one to one ratio. Depends in strength. Using sequentially will work if there's a rinse step in between. I'd recommend: rinse, vinegar ( actually dilute acidic acid), rinse, Baking Soda ( sodium bicarbonate) then rinse again. The acid and base steps can be reversed.

thank you, makes good sense. I eat salad daily and buy vegetables at Makro each week. I've been just using tap water but a good rinse in baking soda and then vinegar sounds like the best way to go to avoid any chemical residue being consumed.

[Bullie]

On 6/27/2019 at 9:09 AM, FredGallaher said:

Did they also compare vegetables from European or US stores? Large industrial farms use a lot of chemicals. They spray them from airplanes. 

What airplane did you fall from? Europe has extremely stringent rules in place concerning foodstuffs. Shipments from South-America are tested on a regular basis, and immediately blacklisted when forbidden pesticides, or too much of this is found.

[Bullie]

On 6/28/2019 at 1:51 AM, THAIJAMES said:

It's also important to note that if you rotate vegetables and don't eat too much of one vegetable then you reduce your exposure to any one chemical.

 

Also I believe that a lot of the pungent spices will actually absorb some poisons and chemicals in your body.

 

 

You should stop seeing Thai doctors, and tell this joke to a western professional.

[Karlo]

I contacted Tesco head office in the UK and asked them comments on the article regarding chemical contamination, this is there reply

 

Food safety is a top priority at Tesco Lotus. We work closely with the Thai authorities including the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to ensure that all locally sourced and imported food products meet local food safety regulations and standards. Several quality and safety checks are performed at farms both by Tesco Lotus and suppliers, at our distribution centres, and at our stores by third-party auditors.

 

Regarding the recent findings of chemical residues in some products, we are in the process of performing tests with our suppliers and growers to check against Thai PAN’s findings.

 

Thank you for shopping at Tesco Lotus. We will continue to work hard to deliver high quality food at affordable prices.

 

With kind regards

Customer Service

Tesco Lotus