We know that many nutritious and healthy substances are found in dried fruit. Unfortunately, there are also hidden dangers.
We live in a society where, fortunately, we can find everything we want and also in a short time. But sometimes comfort comes at a very high price.
In fact, many things have changed since a food was healthy as such. The industry has allowed, together with globalization, to get anything anywhere. But we have to ask whether it’s really an advantage.
Think, for example, of fresh fruit and vegetables. When we go to the supermarket, we hardly ask ourselves – or manage to understand – where it comes from all “that goodness”, and if the finished products are completely healthy. To make them arrive at their destination still “beautiful” and captivating, the producers sprinkle them with preservatives and pesticides. The final product has not been attacked by pests and can travel far. But these pesticides sometimes remain in food and reach our tables.
By now, even what is sold as “Bio” can still be contaminated. Because, let us remember, the substances introduced into Nature make a “journey” and move with the wind, air and water. And they too arrive everywhere. This also applies to dried fruit, and here’s why.
Toxins in Nuts, the ‘dark side’ of a notoriously healthy food
Walnuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Cashews, Pistachios, Peanuts… They are delicious and ideal in many diets. As a snack, as a “breaking hunger”, as an aid for those who do sports and also beneficial for the functions of the organism.
Right, dried fruit is not really suitable for everyone. Some people are intolerant to the substances contained in it and if they ingest them they can experience discomfort of various kinds up to anaphylactic shock. However, even those who can eat it without problems may not know that dried fruit is not without risk.
Always having dried fruit available all year round, maybe we don’t immediately think about where it is produced. Most often lots they come from deindustrialized or underdeveloped countrieswhich have fewer technologies and security systems as in Italy or Europe.
The crops they can suffer contamination by mycotoxins, substances produced by some types of mushrooms. It happens, for example, in the event of poor storage but also from events preceding the harvest. At risk Mycotoxins are especially cereals and precisely dried fruit.
I climate changesthen, they stay intensifying the phenomenonbecause Mycotoxins proliferate better thanks to high humidity rates. As we read on the site ofEFSAfor example, today there are some types of these toxins that are of great concern: “aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and Fusarium toxins such as deoxynivalenol.”
L’ingestion of mycotoxins through food is particularly dangerous because in addition to damage gastrointestinal they can arise kidney problems, immunodeficiency and even tumors.
We consumers we can do very little to counter the phenomenon of contamination, but we have the ability to consciously choose what to buy. To avoid eating potentially contaminated dried fruit as much as possible we must prefer that coming from certified companies. And also avoid products that are too cheap, as well as those in bulkof which we are not sure of provenance.