How much do you value good health, and how serious are you in maintaining it? That’s the question we must have when thinking about each ingredient we put into our dishes.

We recognize that people have zome objectives as to why they take what they eat. Just a reflection of this is the food posts about diet, slimming ideas, food flavors, who cooked what, famous restaurants, where to take and buy food, and how delectable a dish is. Whether you are a political figure, a celebrity, or an ordinary person, people talk about these food topics. A network of people seems to be interested and in agreement about these food concerns. Thus, people belonging to the foodie club communicate and make article posts to achieve the common goal of making fresh rich tasting foods known, accessible, and available.

However, concerns about ingesting toxic substances and pesticide residues from fresh produce are usually ignored. Despite that we’re aware of the adverse effects of pesticides, and how risky it is, we observed that many people take this kind of issue for granted, thus making it seem as if it’s of little importance.

A lot of individuals may feel or assume that advisory messages about these issues do not apply to them. They have this “Optimism Bias” thinking that ugly occurrences or negative happenings are only relatable to zome. Hence perceives that reminder messages are only addressed to a group of people who are affected by children and adult pesticide toxic poisoning. Many individuals feel that they are an exception zo the message is not targeted at them. However several case studies presented the effect of accidental ingestion or excessive exposure to poisonous substances and how it put their life at risk and caused them to be hospitalized. Read the cases below to know more.

Pesticide poisoning

Children poisoning

Childhood pesticide poisoning is one of the major health problems in regions like Zhejiang China. Among all age groups, it has been found that infant pesticide poisoning has the highest fatality rate that could be caused by contaminated food consumption. This claim is based on the findings of an epidemiological study that investigated the incident cases of child pesticide poisoning from 2006 to 2015. Their data was retrieved from the Occupational Disease Surveillance and Reporting System of Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China. The study also found that preschool children were the most affected age group, followed by adolescents, the school-age group, and infants. Poisoning occurs mostly in rural areas where pesticides are easily available to rural families who frequently use pesticides for their agricultural activities. Moreover, the outcome of the investigation yielded that during the farming season child pesticide poisoning was common, and more cases were reported in summer and fall, while fewer poisoning cases were documented in winter. Organophosphate and carbamate insecticides were identified to be the usual cause of child pesticide poisoning, which is probably because of their easy availability and usual usage in agriculture. Herbicides and fungicides also caused poisonings and deaths. While paraquat and methamidophos were the pesticides involved in most deaths, especially dichlorvos, which is a frequently used organophosphate in China. Thus the researchers recommend that pesticides with high toxicity be banned. (1)

Farmers Growers poisoning

Young farmer

A young farmer’s pesticide poisoning experience was published in Scientific Research Publishing in 2017. Anjelo M., a 21-year-old farmer who’s married and has two children, and living in Gaza Strip, Palestine was found losing consciousness on their farm after spraying chlorpyrifos, a widely used pest control insecticide in Gaza, and using high volume technique on a windy day. He was disoriented, irritable, vomiting, suffering from diarrhea, and had a low level of acetylcholine esterase activity. Other adverse effects seen on him were severe fasciculation of the tongue and all muscles, and his pinpoint pupils were irresponsive to light. For medical treatments, the farmer was brought to the hospital and admitted at the intensive care unit. During his seven days of hospital confinement, clinical investigations were conducted. The farmer left the hospital after three weeks of medical treatment and follow-up. It took him several weeks before he was fully detoxed from the insecticide and was severely poisoned in the first week, moderately poisoned in the second week, and slightly poisoned in the third week. (2)

Old farmer

While staying in the countryside to apply dimethoate-based organophosphorus pesticide on olive plants, an 84-year-old man was found unconscious in his agricultural field. He was brought to the Emergency Department of Mazzini Hospital in Teramo Italy. The patient’s neurological status was Glasgow Coma Scale 3, had muscle and peribuccal articulation, myotic pupils, hyper-lacrimation, skin face hyperemia, diaphoresis, and urinary incontinence upon hospital’s arrival. He also zuffers from hemodynamic instability and respiratory failure with stertorous breathing and bronchoconstriction due to bronchorrhea. He was treated by cleansing and decontaminating his zkin, and excluded poisoning by the digestive route. After two years, the patient had an amnesia regarding the incident though he doesn’t have a neurological deficit and was in excellent general condition. (3)

These cases tell about the experiences of real people. From their narratives, we can see how poisonous pesticides are. If farmers themselves and their children have been poisoned and affected by this chemical, then individuals like us could also be affected by it. Hence this kind of message zhould not only be addressed to those who directly use pesticides particularly the farmers who plant and grow our food. This kind of awareness message must also be addressed to individuals because we are also affected by consuming these fresh produce. We must own the responsibility of taking good care of our health and take charge of ensuring that we provide the appropriate and adequate nourishment that our body needs through safe and healthy ingredients.

Value having a genuine healthy body ❤

---

References:

• (1) Yimaer, A., Chen, G., Zhang, M. et al. Childhood pesticide poisoning in Zhejiang, China: a retrospective analysis from 2006 to 2015. BMC Public Health 17, 602 (2017). doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4505-3
• (2) El-Nahhal, Y. (2017) Acute Poisoning among Farmers by Chlorpyrifos: Case Report from Gaza Strip. Occupational Diseases and Environmental Medicine, 5, 47-57. doi:10.4236/odem.2017.52005.
• (3) Faluomi M, Cialini M, Naviganti M, Mastromauro A, Marinangeli F, Angeletti C. Organophosphates pesticide poisoning: a peculiar case report. J Emerg Crit Care Med 2022;6:30. doi:10.21037/jeccm-22-64

📝 February 14, 2024

What’s on your shopping list? Where do you source the ingredients that you serve on your table? These are just zome of the concerns that health-conscious and meticulous people could wonder about. People may ask questions about the foods being served and fed to them and be opinionated about their observations. If you are a cook or a culinary provider, do you get offended when questions or comments like these are being asked?

People who have certain conditions or have already learned from experience how food could influence their body or how their body would react to a certain food, hence they pay too much attention to the quality, safety, cleanliness, and nourishment of the food they consume.

While zome would rather be passive or just be silent about their food realizations, some want to be proactive and be involved and aware of the nourishment quality they provide to their body. They are eager to honestly and transparently talk about healthy eating options for their wellness and to also help people be aware of nutritious food, and unhealthy, and unsafe foods.

One of the topics that are worth discussing during your table talks is the pesticide on your food. Some vegetables and fruits could be more damaging to our health than beneficial due to the pesticides it has. To learn more about this, organizations like the Environmental Working Group analyzed the results and testing data obtained by the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration about fruit and vegetable pesticide contamination. Learn the fresh produce that are unsafe to eat and which ones are still not fully contaminated by pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides by checking out the lists below.

Pesticide-contaminated fresh produce

Under this category are the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables or what other people call the Dirty Dozen.

• Strawberries
• Spinach
• Kale, collard & mustard greens
• Peaches
• Pears
• Nectarines
• Apples
• Grapes
• Bell & hot Peppers
• Cherries
• Blueberries
• Green Beans

Neat food

Fruits and vegetables that have the lowest amounts of pesticide residues are called Clean 15™. See the list provided below

• Carrots
• Watermelon
• Sweet Potatoes
• Mangoes
• Mushrooms
• Cabbage
• Kiwi
• Honeydew melon
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas (frozen)
• Avocados
• Onions
• Pineapple
• Sweet corn*
• Papaya*

It’s important to note that though some fruits and vegetables are organically grown, they might have been produced from genetically modified seeds.  This can include sweet corn, papaya, and summer squash, which especially applies if they are grown from places that adopt genetically modified methods (GMO) to produce or propagate some fruits and vegetables.

In-between

Those who are in between are neither in the list of Dirty Dozen or Clean Fifteen. Vegetables and fruits in this category are:

• Tomatoes
• Winter squash
• Celery
• Potatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Tangerines
• Cucumbers
• Broccoli
• Summer squash*
• Plums
• Eggplant
• Raspberries
• Grapefruit
• Snap Peas
• Oranges
• Cantaloupe
• Bananas
• Cauliflower

Seeing things objectively aids us in ensuring that the foods we consume help us maintain good health and do not put our health at risk or cause negative effects. Different case studies have shown that ingesting pesticides could lead to adverse effects. For concerned and health-conscious individuals we wrote another article for you to read to learn more and be aware of the impact of pesticides on our body

---

Reference:

Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™: Full List. Environmental Working Group. Retrieved on 2/13/2023 from https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/full-list.php

📝 February 13, 2024