Baby Carrots have toxins

[itself]

Just an fyi...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/28/Chlorine-in-Your-Baby-Carrots.aspx

[Biciclista]

chlorine is everywhere, it's in the water we drink everyday. HOWEVER, I never buy or eat "baby" carrots because I already knew they were the disgusting discards from broken old carrots...

[channlluv]

eeww.

[KnottedYet]

Everything has toxins, and we're all gonna die.

Those "baby" carrots are kind of like the hamburger of the vege world.

[Reesha]

Seriously, why eat little baby cut carrots that have been artfully lathed into their shape, when you can have real carrot sticks?

Or REAL baby carrots, little ones, pulled right from the ground?

:D

[szsz]

Seriously, why eat little baby cut carrots that have been artfully lathed into their shape, when you can have real carrot sticks?

Or REAL baby carrots, little ones, pulled right from the ground?

:D

Exactly. Especially because so much nutrient is in the skin anyway. I never understood peeled carrots (or potatoes).

[GLC1968]

Exactly. Especially because so much nutrient is in the skin anyway. I never understood peeled carrots (or potatoes).


No kidding!

(plus, the potato skin is the best part and the single reason I refuse to cook potatoes in the microwave!)

[Pax]

No kidding!

(plus, the potato skin is the best part and the single reason I refuse to cook potatoes in the microwave!)
Does the microwave do something to the skin?

[jessmarimba]

If you cook baked potatoes in the oven the skin gets all crispy and crunchy. If you nuke 'em, they're soggy and chewy...have you ever had a baked potato from, say, Wendy's? Yeah.

[lph]

Oooh, I want baked potatoes now. Thanks for the dinner tip ;)

[bmccasland]

Just an fyi...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/28/Chlorine-in-Your-Baby-Carrots.aspx

I wanted to read the article, but can't because there's a stupid window requiring registration to the web site that blocks the view of the article. I can't make the window go away. I'm NOT going to register to some web site just so I can read one article.

grumble grumble grumble :mad:

[OakLeaf]

Speaking of toxins, potato skins contain not only a scary array of fungicide and pesticide residues, but also the lion's share of the tuber's natural nightshade toxins ....

I'll eat potato skins only if they're organic, local, seasonal new potatoes, and not visibly greened. Otherwise I stick to the insides.

[grey]

I wanted to read the article, but can't because there's a stupid window requiring registration to the web site that blocks the view of the article. I can't make the window go away. I'm NOT going to register to some web site just so I can read one article.

grumble grumble grumble :mad:

I found the window didn't cover the whole screen, so I just read it line by line.
The concerning part of this to me is, a lot of parents have "baby" carrots on hand as a healthy snack for the kiddos. They're little and fun...

[Karma007]

Interesting. I buy baby carrots for my husband. They're simply convenient. I prepare most of our food from scratch, and enjoy having one less item to chop and package. Guess I'll find another item to shortcut.

[tangentgirl]

Wait, wait, don't toss those carrots just yet!

There are baby carrots and there are baby cut carrots. The first are just that, carrots that are picked before they grow up.

The second are carrots that would have been tossed out because don't pass muster for shelves.

Here's a Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_carrot) - it needs references, but it's a start.

The first group is really sweet and good. I'm not sure if there is a way to tell the difference on the packaging, but you can look at the actual carrots and see the little top and root. Yum yum yum.

As for the second group, like any other food out there, they have bit of buyer beware. I'm assuming if the package is being marketed as organic, the chlorine washing won't fly. However, even if they are not organic and are washed in chlorine, a) they are lessening waste and b) they're still better than oreos or whatever crap most people eat as snacks anyways.

P.S. couldn't read the article either. Stupid blocking overlay.

[nscrbug]

X3 on couldn't read the article because of it being blocked by a registration ad.

Gosh, I've been buying baby carrots since forever...but never actually took notice if they were "baby carrots" or "baby CUT carrots". Now I certainly will.

[goldfinch]

<sigh>

I suggest taking everything Mercola says with a grain of salt. One might at least read the wiki about him as a first step: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola

(BTW this publication discusses the extent chlorine products can be used in organic food production: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5090760)

Nevertheless, I can't stand those dry old tasteless so called baby "cut" carrots. :)

[zoom-zoom]

<sigh>

I suggest taking everything Mercola says with a grain of salt.

A BIG grain of salt (http://www.quackwatch.com/search/webglimpse.cgi?ID=1&query=mercola)...like a saltlick.

[Reesha]

There are baby carrots and there are baby cut carrots. The first are just that, carrots that are picked before they grow up.

The second are carrots that would have been tossed out because don't pass muster for shelves.

The first group is really sweet and good. I'm not sure if there is a way to tell the difference on the packaging, but you can look at the actual carrots and see the little top and root. Yum yum yum.



You know I've always wondered whether baby carrots are actually sweet because all the varieties of carrots put maximum sweetness at a certain "maturity". I will have to do some investigating-- got 4 varieties of carrots growing in my school garden and I'll be pulling them at baby stage for pickling at the posh restaurant they're being sold to. I'll be curious to find out!

[Dogmama]

a big grain of salt (http://www.quackwatch.com/search/webglimpse.cgi?id=1&query=mercola)...like a saltlick.

finally!!!

[Cataboo]

This is what the article says:
The small cocktail or “baby” carrots you buy are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots. You might have known that already. But what you might not know is that once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots, they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them.

When a baby carrot turns white (“white blushing”), this causes the bags of carrots to be pulled from the shelf and thrown away. To prevent this consumer waste, the carrots are dipped in chlorine to prevent the white blushing from happening.

Chlorine is a very well-known carcinogen. Organic growers instead use a citrus based, nontoxic solution called Citrox.


We have chlorine in our drinking water & our pool water. I'm not sure I'd go as far to say that "chlorine" qualifies as toxins. And personally, I get irritated when my baby carrots go bad before I manage to eat them all (I get the big bag at costco.) I also rinse them before eating them, which should wash off any chlorine they were dipped in. And I eat 30 times more carrots than I would if I didn't get baby carrots when I do buy baby carrots. That's probably more like 100 times more, 'cause I take a bag of baby carrots with me when I go kayaking, camping, and I stick 'em in my salads... I am lazy enough that I know I will not sit and peel a ton of carrots to take a bag of them with me when I go kayaking. I will just take something else instead.

[GLC1968]

Oak - I only buy organic potatoes when I plan to eat the skin (white potatoes) or I eat them from our own garden.

Personally, I'm not worried about chlorine on baby carrots. Chlorine evaporates. Drinking water with chlorine in it will be MUCH more potent than the tiny trace amounts (if any) left after bathing a root veggy. It's not like carrots are absorbent!

Plus, those baby carrots have made all those other ugly, deformed carrots that used to get thrown away into a consumable product. I wouldn't dismiss them so readily.

Though, I will say that they have zero flavor compared to carrots out of your own backyard. Tomatoes and carrots - two types of produce that taste COMPLETELY different when home grown. I got spoiled and now I hate the store bought varieties!