FRUIT AND CAUSTIC SODA.

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 473, 16 July 1948, Page 5

FRUIT AND CAUSTIC SODA.

Sir,-In The Listener some time ago a correspondent to Aunt Daisy’s Page gave a recipe for boiling peaches. She wrote-"I prepared a caustic soda bath -1loz. of caustic soda to 1 gallon of boiling water .. . and dropped in 16 peach halves. After boiling for about 1 minute I ladled them out and held them under a fast running tap." She-went on to say that the lady who gave her this hint does them this way even when she stews them for dinner, "using one teaspoon of caustic soda to 1 quart of boiling water." And this poison-method is employed just to remove the "bloom" in order to avoid peeling. (But why peel peaches? Flayour and vitamins are in the skin.) Caustic soda is a corrosive poison. If this soda in such a weak solution is sufficient to burn the "bloom" off the peaches, a great deal must be absorbed into the skin and fleshy part of the halves while boiling one minute. Then what must be the effect of this corrosive on the delicate walls of the stomach when these peaches are eaten? It’s an illusion to think that a rinse in cold water is, going to wash it out. So power-. ful is it that it even eats into iron pipes. A good plumber warns one that it must not. be used as a cleansing agent for drains and sinks. It would be interesting to know what our Health advisers have to say on this

subject.

POISONS

(Wellington).

(We have received this comment from the Health Department: "It is a fact that in commercial canning processes many fruits are dipped in a weak caustic soda solution to blanch them, or remove the skin. This is a carefully regulated process. It would however’ be very unwise for an ordinary household to use a caustic soda solution for food, especially as a liquid in which food is boiled. Peaches are not a rich source of vitamins, but this method of -treating them would certainly be destructive of such vitamins as do exist, and holding a peeled -fruit under a running tap would dissolve out many of the mineral salts. The best method of removing skins is to place the fruit in boiling water for a few minutes and then in cold water. With most ‘bottling peaches the skin will then shrink and can be easily peeled.’"’)