Nutritionist and cookbook author Jenny Tschiesche has issued a health warning concerning easy peel citrus fruits, expressing the importance of checking their labels for one key detail
If you’re a fan of citrus fruits, you may wish to heed the advice of a nutrition expert who shared a health risk concerning their zest. Jenny Tschiesche, who is a number one Sunday Times bestseller with several cookbooks to her name, took to TikTok to issue her advice.
“Do check the labels on your easy peelers to see what they have been treated with,” she began in a video, holding aloft a bag of supermarket-bought mandarins that were grown in South Africa. “Don’t great the zest into your food and certainly don’t cook the whole fruit as you might be surprised by what they’ve been treated with.”
“Citrus zest isn’t always safe to eat!” Jenny reiterated.She elaborated: “Many supermarket mandarins, and tangerines are treated with surface fungicides to keep them fresh. These ones I found had been treated with imazalil, 2, 4D [2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid], pyrimethanil, thiabendazole, fludioxonil and azoxystrobin.”
Jenny went on to warn that consuming such chemicals on a regular basis or in high concentration can impact your health in a number of ways.
“Imazalil and thiabendazole can affect the liver and endocrine system,” she noted. “Fludioxonil and pyrimethanil may cause irritation or metabolic effects. While 2,4-D has been linked to possible hormonal and neurological effects.”
Thankfully, Jenny added regulatory agencies including EFSA and FDA set maximum residue limits (MRLs), which are designed to keep these residues far below harmful levels in normal consumption.
However, she added: “Yet, the presumption is that you’ll peel and eat the fruit. So don’t use the zest nor eat the peel of those treated with these substances unless you wash and scrub thoroughly first.”
Jenny closed with some additional advice:
- Peel before eating
- Wash and scrub well if using the zest
- Or choose organic fruit
Writing in response, one TikTok user asked: “What if you need zest, what do you get instead?”
To which Jenny clarified: “You can either choose to wash them thoroughly or even better go for organic which will have less and in some cases no fungicides.”
While a second person commented: “I laughed out loud at option number one being peel before eating. Who’s not doing that already?”
Jenny pointed out in reply: “Actually… there are cake recipes that require you to cook the whole fruit with peel then blend. Grated zest – added to porridge or bakes – is also common.”
Meanwhile, Pesticide Action Network UK also advised: “The government’s testing scheme tends to show citrus fruit as having the highest residues. For example, in 2021 100% of grapefruits tested contained pesticide cocktails. This is often because of its peel – fruit such as oranges and lemons, will show higher residues than are actually being consumed.”
The organisation warned: “Having said that, people are increasingly using the zest of citrus fruits. In addition, handling of fruit covered in fungicides (which are used to prevent food rotting) can mean dermal absorption (i.e. through the skin) is a problem, particularly for children.”