Did you know we shouldn’t really use the zest of lemons and oranges unless organic?

[Teeh]

Most of the ones in the shop are treated with imazalil which is considered toxic and a carcinogenic.

Does rinsing under water remove it? 😬

But in my whole life I've probably eaten zest about 3 times.
As opposed to daily exposure to pollution from cars, hormones in meat, climate change, blah blah. So pardon me if I pass on worrying about this.

I did not know that. It is better to buy organic anyway, due to all the pesticides being used.

Yes - absolutely. In any case we always try to buy organic (unless there is no option) even if it's only a minor reduction.

@heldinadream you are right, it's all balancing act depending on your priorities and your exposure. Interesting fact - I was reading some stats about UK meat having less hormones / antibiotics that the meat of many other EU countries,

Is that the waxing agent? I try to buy unwaxed lemons to avoid it.

I’ve heard you can also wash the wax off by rinsing in warm water.

Another thing to worry about 🙄

I use the zest quite often but always scrub the fruit with soapy water first. All those slices of lemon in drinks in pubs though 🤷‍♀️

Very quick googling suggests that it is mostly considered safe at the very low levels peopel may be consuming it AND that a quick rinse would solve this problem. I'm not going to get upset about this one.

It is unwaxed lemons too unfortunately. The small print on the label states what it has been treated with. But I had no idea as they print it so small. I think in European countries they label peel not for consumption. I am no expert. Honestly this may be a case of small quantities and all that. But I feel we should be making more informed decision either way.

I couldn’t find any info about whether scrubbing makes a difference. But even so, I don’t think everyone scrubs so it’s probably good to know this I think

Well, I asked Chat GPT and got lots of info regarding the low levels, how it's regulated and that rinsing/scrubbing can further reduce exposure. I'm not worried.

I ask for no lemon when drinking out because of that. Also citrus are one of the top 10 worst for pesticide residues, for amount of residue and for the number of different chemicals found in testing. Also look at the label on the plastic nets when you buy oranges etc, there are several additional ingredients added to the skin.

Thanks op

They don't label peel as not for consumption in European countries as far as I have ever seen. I have done a lot of supermarket and market "research" in my time.

If you've eaten any form of lemon cake then you will have eaten lemon zest. Plenty of other cakes will have lemon zest in too, even if not actually a 'lemon' cake.
Plenty of dishes in restaurants will have lemon zest in them too.

You've probably eaten it a lot more than 3 times!

Thanks. I think must be a fair bit of misinformation online so I think got this wrong. There does seem to also be a myth that it is banned completely in European countries but don’t think that the case either

I assumed unwaxed were safe for this 😬. I'll check before I buy some again.

I’m with you on this 40,000 people die prematurely in uk every year from car pollution

lemon zest isn’t really a worrying factor - yet

I worked this one out a couple years ago noticed on the packaging it said "treated with about three different chemicals I forgot the names"

Some cake recipes call for grated lemon skin haha fuck that. I don't even put lemon slices in my drinks I peel them first