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sticky labels on apples - remove before washing!

(32 Posts)
lixy Fri 29-Mar-24 09:44:20

The other day I bought some Pink Lady eating apples at a reduced price. We hadn't had these before - they are very tasty. The apples I buy don't usually have individual labels on.

But I washed an apple with the sticky label still on it - and it took ages to get the glue off!
Today I tried taking the label off before washing and it was easy, just came off in one piece.
So this is a heads up really - remove labels before washing apples!

Jaxjacky Fri 29-Mar-24 09:50:57

I don’t wash apples or any other fruit.

Kittye Fri 29-Mar-24 09:56:57

Jaxjacky

I don’t wash apples or any other fruit.

Yuk! I always wash all fruit and vegetables. You don’t know who’s been handling them. I don’t want a tummy bug or virus , thank you.

Sparklefizz Fri 29-Mar-24 10:11:54

I always^ wash fruit and vegetables. I have seen people going round supermarkets picking their noses and then picking up produce. Euuwww!

karmalady Fri 29-Mar-24 10:22:38

apples definitely need washing, they are heavily sprayed and handled by all sorts of people. I get organic apples and always wash them, not washing them is sloppy behaviour jaxjacky

If you cannot get the label off just cut the skin off in that area before eating

TinSoldier Fri 29-Mar-24 10:23:14

Most non-organic, or conventionally grown, apples are drenched in a chemical called diphenylamine. The chemical prevent the skin of apples in cold storage from developing brown or black patches known as “storage scald.”

Diphenylamine on its own is considered to have low toxicity. The danger is in the formation of nitrosamines on diphenylamine-treated fruit. Nitrosamines cause cancer in laboratory animals, and some studies have found that people who eat foods with nitrosamines have elevated rates of stomach and esophageal cancers.

Unless you can buy organic, don’t just remove labels from apples but wash them throughly and preferably peel them.

Nitrosamines are mostly found in meat especially cured meat.

Esmay Fri 29-Mar-24 10:36:46

I always wash all fruit .Those annoyingly sticky labels come off with a tiny blob of washing up liquid .

I love Pink Lady apples and they aren't cheap .
They are the first apples to produce a bloom and the last to be cultivated .
Cultivating them , apparently takes skill from trained technicians .
They were originally hybridised by John Cripps in Australia in 1973 and are a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady Williams .
They were originally known as a Cripps Pink , but Pink Lady is a more attractive name !

Jaxjacky Fri 29-Mar-24 10:58:27

That’s a bit rude karmalady and first time I’ve ever been called sloppy, I’m not careless or lazy.

lixy Fri 29-Mar-24 10:58:35

That's interesting TinSoldier and Esmay thank you. Amazing what you learn on G'net!

Purplepixie Fri 29-Mar-24 11:05:39

My mam always washed fruit and vegetable because she said that you don’t know what chemicals they have on them. Also people handling them. If you get them off a market stall then maybe people have sneezed on them. So I always wash all of it before eating and cooking.

NotSpaghetti Fri 29-Mar-24 11:08:42

I have a brush which I keep especially for washing fruit.
Even organic fruit/veg need washing.
Even melon and grapefruit for example as you may transfer bacteria to the edible parts from the skin.

Technically washing with a surfecant is best - though I confess I don't do that usually.

HelterSkelter1 Fri 29-Mar-24 11:09:52

Why don't you wash fruit Jaxjacky? If they come from a shop? If you grow them yourself that could be different I suppose.

Mel1967 Fri 29-Mar-24 11:14:11

I, also, don’t wash any fruit or vegetables.
Life’s too short,
I must be sloppy as well.

Jaxjacky Fri 29-Mar-24 11:35:03

HelterSkelter1

Why don't you wash fruit Jaxjacky? If they come from a shop? If you grow them yourself that could be different I suppose.

Probably because my parents never did HelterSkelter and because I try and eat local, seasonal fruit and vegetables, the exception being blueberries and bananas.
Mell967 👋👋

Theexwife Fri 29-Mar-24 11:38:14

That is interesteing Esmay and explains why they are more expensive.

DanniRae Fri 29-Mar-24 12:15:56

I always wash fruit and veg.
I had a friend who used to wash bacon slices ...... I don't do that!

Primrose53 Fri 29-Mar-24 13:11:02

Pink Lady apples are the best! Jazz come a close second.
I never have trouble getting labels off.

Skydancer Fri 29-Mar-24 13:14:49

Why on earth do apples need sticky labels anyway?

Oldbat1 Fri 29-Mar-24 13:41:18

I always wash fruit and peel where I can. I had a very bad experience after picking apples on a fruit farm then I drove home whilst eating an apple. Two of us were in agony by the time we got back (not far) luckily two loos were available at our destination. My dd gets cross if I peel apples for the gc.

TinSoldier Fri 29-Mar-24 14:16:20

Skydancer

Why on earth do apples need sticky labels anyway?

To tell you where the fruit has been grow and how is has been grown either by conventional methods or organically and whether it has been genetically modified.

Four digits means it had been grown conventionally. five digits starting with 9 means it has been grown organically and 8 means genetically modified.

The codes are issued by the International Federation for Produce Standards (IFPS).

Wheniwasyourage Fri 29-Mar-24 14:26:19

That's interesting, TinSoldier. I always assumed that the labels also tell a supermarket till operator what kind and price they are. Not that our Tesco sells much in the way of loose fruit at all. sad

TinSoldier Fri 29-Mar-24 14:40:37

Yes. The code is also called the PLU Product Look Up so is will be used for that too.

karmalady Fri 29-Mar-24 14:51:37

HelterSkelter1

Why don't you wash fruit Jaxjacky? If they come from a shop? If you grow them yourself that could be different I suppose.

Also self-protection from bird poo. I grow much of my own fruit and believe me, bird poo can and does fall on apples. I wash all my own grown fuit too, I use veggie wash and then rinse in clean water

Oreo Fri 29-Mar-24 14:51:56

I always peel apples, safer and peel tastes yukky anyway.

MissInterpreted Fri 29-Mar-24 14:57:33

Makes you wonder how we all survived this long. We used to pick fruit off trees or bushes at the roadside or in fields and eat it there and then - and drink water from the local stream. Still here to tell the tale...