Now that Thanksgiving 2009 is safely tucked behind us, I can get back to the case of the Cuties– which is not, though it may sound like it, an infectious disease but rather the case of how even relatively simple sounding “whole foods” like oranges are processed to look so pretty and appealing. How you feel about the following will probably differ, but the processing of a non-organic mandarin orange is worth thinking about, if only to illustrate how powerful our manipulations have become to get fresh produce to people all year round.
- Processed for Shelf-Life and Appearance
The investigation began for me when I was looking for packaging for my father’s certified organic mandarins. I’d casually flip over 5-lb boxes of Cuties mandarin oranges to find the box manufacturer, and the labeling I saw instead shocked me: Cuties are treated with Imazalil or Thiabendazole. As a physician, I recognized thiabendazole as an anti-fungal that is also sometimes used to treat roundworm and hookworm. What was an anti-fungal doing in my mandarin orange, and how in heaven’s name did they apply it?
It turns out that the antifungals are applied within the wax that coats Cuties. I didn’t know Cuties were waxed; I thought only cucumbers and apples were waxed. But apparently waxing is widespread throughout the non-organic produce section. In non-organic mandarin oranges, wax is applied after the fruit is washed because washing removes the fruit’s naturally-occurring protective wax. Without this wax coat, mandarins becomes vulnerable to ”loss of aroma and weight” and fungal rot. In other words, they start getting old, fast. With a wax coat and antifungals, mandarin oranges can be stored in a climate controlled storage unit for nearly a month.
- Wax Keeps Your Orange Youthful
It doesn’t stop there, either. Some mandarin oranges are gassed. That’s right, gassed. Ethylene gas is a naturally occurring gas given off by fruit, which acts as a ripening hormone. When gas levels are high enough, the fruit ripens. In the non-organic mandarin orange business, however, external ethylene gas is sometimes added to perfect the mandarins’ orange color. People in the business call this “degreening.” which is considered desirable because consumers associate a mandarin’s orange color with ripeness and sweetness. Green just doesn’t sell well.
So there you have it, the non-organic mandarin’s path to the produce aisle: it may be gassed to look orange and pretty. It will probably be waxed and treated with antifungals to stay looking pretty. The orange you eat may be a month old. Is this so bad? You decide. Some may call all this processing a great leap forward– you can get your mandarins for a longer season and they look awfully good. Others might say that it’s just one more step away from nature, that we are increasingly divorced from how our foods are produced and processed. I merely bring it up to encourage people to develop a food philosophy. How much processing is too much?
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I guess this isn’t surprising, but still a bit disappointing.
I would be interested to know more about the federal requirements for calling something organic? Clearly organic farmers are doing something different than I do in my own vegetable garden…
That is why yours taste the best… none of that bad stuff…..
So does this mean that imazalil thiabendazole is dangerous for us or what? I too, recently flipped my cuties box from Trader Joe’s over to find the same horrifying info as you! I was really disappointed because I mainly buy organic and decided to “look the other way” with this citrus.
Can you tell us if this should be avoided? I know that antifungals are used on kids with autism with good results (not that I would use that as a treatment), but how harmful is it on food?
Weird.
Hi Emily: You raise a great question. Imazalil and thiabendazole are anti-fungals that are used widely on the peels of non-organic citrus. Basically, they inhibit mold and rot. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of these anti-fungals used is not harmful to humans. Another way to look at it is that you are not eating the peel and thus are exposed to very little of the anti-fungal. That being said, in juicing plants, the peel and pulp are used for other purposes (including as flavor sources for soft drinks, etc). In this case, the anti-fungals are being ingested. Is that really safe? I don’t know. I’m looking into the topic and will post what I find. Thanks for reading!
[...] I buy relatively large bags of Cuties, which are small varieties of mandarins. They’re easy to peel, small, and seedless. They’re a convenient and seemingly healthy snack from California. However, to achieve that convenience, they are treated with Imazalil or Thiabendazole, both common pesticides used on citrus fruits. The peeling is also waxed and possibly even gassed in order to increase shelf-life and appearance. Turns out being “cute” comes at a price. [...]