My Vegan Chronicles - Part 9 of 10 - Food labels and Pesticides Removal

Food labels and 
 Pesticides Removal

By Gary Boutin

All the post so far has given you the tools to become a better vegan. Now I am going to address how to read food labels from your local grocery store, and how to clean your vegetables from pesticides.

The only way to make sure that your food is vegan safe is to read the food labels. Manufacturers have misleading information on the box and because they must list every ingredients on the food label this is the only way to make sure that you do not ingest any animal product.

Food can feel like the enemy when trying to purchase items at the grocery store. It can be terrifying to know that you just don't know what to eat. Below are just some of the ingredients that must be avoided.

• Carmine/cochineal – red pigment of crushed female cochineal beetle, used as a food coloring
• Casein – from milk (a protein)
• Lactose – from milk (a sugar)
• Whey – from milk. Whey powder is in many products, look out for it in crisps, bread and baked products etc.


Food labels links:

• The Well Vegan: Reading Food Labels to Avoid Animal Products
• The U.S. Food and Drug: FDA: A complete guide to understanding food labels. How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label

Below are some common sense approach to washing your vegetables and fruits: Never assume Fresh, Organic, Pure, Natural and even 100% is true. Unless you grow it yourself.

• Apple baking soda and dish soap rub: Use a spot of dish soap with baking soda and rub on skin of apple, then rinse with cold water. 
• Apple cider vinegar: removes pesticide residue
• Apple Salt Rub: Pour a spoonful of table salt in your wet, cupped hand and twist the apple around in the damp salt with a little pressure. The salt is gritty enough to remove the wax. 
• Cold Water Rubbing: Rub for 30 seconds by hand and rinse in cold water.[1]
• Cold Water Washing: 75% to 80% of pesticide can be reduces or removed by water. Some fruits like grapes, apples, guava, plums, mangoes, peaches and pears and fruity vegetables like tomatoes,  okra, and spinach and kale (green leafy vegetables) require two to three washings.[1] 
• Discard the outer layers of leafy vegetables.
• Dry produce with a clean cloth if possible.
• Fruit and Vegetable Spray: In a glass spray bottle, mix one tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoons of white vinegar and one cup of water. Shake vigorously before generously spraying onto your produce.[1]
• Salt Water Solution: Mix two teaspoons of salt into four cups of warm water and stir to dissolve.[1]
• Scrub and or peel produce that can take it.
• Vinegar Soak: The vinegar soak is an alternative to salt water. If you don’t have vinegar, lemon juice will also do the trick. Fill a large bowl with four parts water and one part distilled vinegar. 

Below are some links to help solve on how to remove chemical pesticides from your food:

• Blanching: Blanching can be used to remove pesticides from the hardiest kinds of cooking produce.
• Collective Evolution: How To Remove Pesticides From Non-Organically Grown Produce by Arjun Walia.
• How to make fruits and veggies safer for consumption? There is a simple and cheap trick that can help you get rid of those nasty chemicals. You can simply wash your fresh produce in distilled white vinegar and water solution.
• How to Wash Pesticides off Fruit & Vegetables. Washing fresh produce to remove pesticides
• National Pesticide Information Center: How can I wash pesticides from fruit and veggies?
• Natural Living Idea by Jayne Leonard: 5 Ways To Wash Pesticides Off Fruits & Veggies & Why You Should
• Smart Cooky: Simple Tricks to Remove Pesticides From Fruits and Vegetables
• The Produce Without The Poison: How to Avoid Pesticides
• This Simple Trick Removes Pesticides From Fruit And Vegetables (Works On Organic Too)
• University of Wisconsin-Extension: Safe and Healthy: Preserving Food at Home

Footnotes:

1. [1] http://www.naturallivingideas.com/wash-fruits-veggies/

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