Showing posts with label organic apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organic apples. Show all posts

Antibiotic use on organic apples and pears proves unnecessary -- Here's how to end the madness and protect yourself

When we relish a delicious organic apple or pear, we usually don't suspect we are also ingesting a mouthful of antibiotics. As shocking as this may seem, it's yet another dirty little secret of the certified organic industry in the U.S. Used to control a tree born bacterial infection, antibiotics are sprayed on susceptible varieties of trees—leaving residues on fruit to be consumed far and wide. And inflaming concern over antibiotic overuse in the process.

An unfortunate truth

Generally, antibiotics are shunned by organic aficionados and natural health advocates alike. The dangers of antibiotic resistant superbugs and devastation of beneficial bacteria in the body are enough reason to seek alternatives. But consumers who eat organic apples or pears may be inadvertently ingesting tetracycline and streptomycin—two antibiotics used to combat common infections of the lung, middle ear and urinary tract as well as more life threatening diseases like tuberculosis, plague and cholera. Unfortunately, when antibiotics are overused they eventually become ineffective, leaving us high and dry for when the medicine is truly needed. Antibiotics also ravage the intestinal tract, destroying the good bacteria that help to keep us disease free. All in all, consuming antibiotics haphazardly in food is not ideal.