Are organic fruit and vegetables worth the cost? Can’t I just wash my fruit and veg?
Whilst meandering in a local shop yesterday, I noticed a “fruit and vegetable wash” product. Walking over to the counter, already clutching unnecessary amounts of mini candles and incense., I wondered…Did I need this in my life too?
I decided to quiz the shop assistant about this. Organic fruit and vegetables are of course, expensive, and the assistant told me that as she could not afford organic fruit and vegetables from the supermarket, she used this to wash her vegetables. Although it smelt great and looked legit, I stopped myself from an impulse-buy and instead wondered, does washing your fruit and vegetable remove the “bad things”? And why should we eat organic food anyway?
The word organic is used everywhere nowadays and it means that the crop is grown from seeds without synthetic fertiliser, chemical pesticides or genetic engineering.
Eating organic foods does have some benefits. Baranski et al 2014 BJN, a Meta analysis of 343 studies, found that organic crops have higher antioxidant, carbohydrate and zinc content (1). Conventional crops are higher in pesticide residue but can be higher in protein and fibre content.
There is also emerging evidence linking organic food consumption with a lower cancer risk. However, there is limited evidence for this and only one study so far which is the first of its kind. It shows an association between lower lates of cancer in those eating organic food. It is important to note that the study does not show that organic foods cause lower rates of cancer, but more that those that eat organic foods have slightly lower rates of cancer(2). This could also be due to the fact that the demographic who eat organic foods are generally healthier, richer and well educated so these factors are all known to impact cancer.
More research needs to be undertaken before we can conclude that eating organic foods and lower cancer risk. For now, I think you are better off focusing on eating a rainbow of fruit and vegetables, cutting down on alcohol, and cutting down red meat consumption (3).
I also wouldn’t get too hung up about washing your fruit and veg in special washes, you should wash it to remove dirt and bacteria but this is unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in pesticide content (4).
Sources
Barański M, Srednicka-Tober D, Volakakis N, Seal C, Sanderson R, Stewart GB, Benbrook C, Biavati B, Markellou E, Giotis C, Gromadzka-Ostrowska J, Rembiałkowska E, Skwarło-Sońta K, Tahvonen R, Janovská D, Niggli U, Nicot P, Leifert C. Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. Br J Nutr. 2014 Sep 14;112(5):794-811. doi: 10.1017/S0007114514001366. Epub 2014 Jun 26. PMID: 24968103; PMCID: PMC4141693.
Baudry J, Assmann KE, Touvier M, Alles B, Seconda L, Latino-Martel P, et al. (2018). Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer RiskFindings From the NutriNet-Santé Prospective Cohort Study. JAMA Intern Med. In Press: DOI: doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.4357
Cancer Research UK. Does eating a healthy diet reduce my risk of cancer? Available from: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/does-having-a-healthy-diet-reduce-my-risk-of-cancer
Chung SW. How effective are common household preparations on removing pesticide residues from fruit and vegetables? A review. J Sci Food Agric. 2018 Jun;98(8):2857-2870. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.8821. Epub 2018 Jan 22. PMID: 29222908.