Is It Safe To Wash Vegetables With Soda Baking? Know The Facts

Illustration of washing vegetables (Photo: Freepik/Freepik)

JAKARTA - Cleaning fruit and vegetables before consumption is an important step to maintain food safety. But many people are still wondering, do you actually use baking soda to wash vegetables?

Recently, the method of soaking fresh products in baking soda solutions has become a trend, especially because it is considered more effective in removing dirt and pesticide residues.

Although it looks clean, vegetables often carry various contaminants. Starting from dust, soil, to bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli, or literature. Contamination can occur from water, soil, harvesting process, to distribution.

"All fresh products should be washed thoroughly under running water, regardless of where the product is grown or purchased," reads a warning from the CDC, quoted from the Epicurious page.

In addition to bacteria, some vegetables also have waxy coatings or pesticide residues that stick to their surfaces.

Baking soda (natrium bicarbonate) is a soft alkali alkali material. This is the reason why baking soda is often used as a natural cleaning.

Arm & Hammer, a famous producer of baking soda, recommends using 1 tablespoon of baking soda in 2 cups of cold water, then soaking fruit or vegetables for 1215 minutes.

"Baking soda helps remove residues that stick to the surface of fresh products," saidSarah House, chef of food innovation at Bob's Red Mill.

After the immersion, vegetables still need to be rinsed again using clean water.

Many people use baking soda especially to reduce pesticide residue. Indeed, some studies found that baking soda solutions can reduce pesticide residue by up to 66.7'98.9%, while regular running water only reduces by about 26.7'62.9%.

However, USDA confirms that pesticide residues on products sold are generally very low and below safe limits for consumption.

There are still things to note, the baking soda solution is baselined and makes certain vegetable skins softer if soaked for too long. Products with tougher skin such as apples, priors, and some types of melon are more suitable for this method.

The market now provides a variety of fruit and vegetable cleaning products. However, the CDC and the FDA warn us against using soap or household detergents.

Food and vegetables are porous. Soap and detergent can be absorbed into it and can make you sick. " said the FDA.

So cleaning vegetables with running water remains the safest way for everyday life.

You can use baking soda to wash vegetables. This method is safe, natural, and can help reduce dirt and some pesticide residue.

However, the additional benefits are not too big when compared to washing vegetables using running water.

For those who are really worried about pesticides, nutritionist Breana Lai Killeen provides advice.

Buy organic products or directly from farmers who do not use pesticides. "

In the end, the best way is to choose the most comfortable method to use regularly, as long as the vegetable is still cleaned and dried well before consumption.