Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

Washing Plums

I bought plums from one of the vendors at the West Side Market Friday afternoon. The little sticker on the plums traced the fruit back to Chile. My wife is into washing fruit before it is eaten, which, I suppose, might be a good thing; however, I read a report a few years back that said pesticides on fruit imported from Chile is not a problem. Be that as it may, if washing lends her some peace of mind, it's a good thing. But she doesn't just rinse the fruit under a shower of water, she gives the plums a bath. If she soaked that long in a tub, her fingers would be shriveled like a prune.

And here's a problem. She didn't remove the little stickers from the plums before soaking them; so, when I tried to peel the little sticker off the plum I planned to eat, it wouldn't come off. It was permanently stuck to the plum, as if the sticker was now a part of the plum. When I tried to pull the sticker off, the skin came with it. Just what kind of glue is on the stickers? The American Chemical Society claims that:

The adhesive that secures the sticker is food grade and not harmful if swallowed. If glue residue remains, dab it a few times with the removed label. Otherwise, rinse with warm water, then dry and polish with a clean dry towel. The labels themselves are usually made of FDA-approved, lead-free vinyl. They are not edible and must be removed, however if you accidentally eat one, it will not harm you.

If the label is not the "usual" label, of what is it made? I hope it's just a paper product. And what is a "food grade" adhesive? One company markets a "permanent adhesive specially designed for adhesion to fresh fruits and vegetables with an edible skin." Permanent ... that answers the question. Perhaps, she should have soaked the plums in toluene to remove the stickers.

Then, of course, there's the "food grade" adhesive used to splice rubber belts together. So, "food grade" is somewhat misleading, just as all things government are misleading. Just because it's called "food grade" doesn't mean it's made of something that might be food by some stretch of the imagination.

And here's another problem with soaking fruit, as I see it. If the fruit is laden with pesticides, then the fruit will be taking a bath in pesticide-laced water, absorbing some of the liquid. But I refuse to think about that one any longer.

Posted by Bill at April 4, 2006 08:55 AM