The skin! They invented the skin!
Now cucumbers have foreskin! What a world we live in!
Having the small plastic cover on cucumbers actually makes them last a lot longer and reduces food waste. Last time I saw an article on it the net benefit environmentally was much in plastic films favour over not using it
This. More specifically, the environmental negative of such a small amount of plastic was dwarfed by the energy required to grow produce that went un-eaten, followed by the subsequent CO2 release from decomposition that would otherwise be trapped in… You know… People and animals as food. This film is just all the better for having none of the downsides of plastic waste.
Since when is skin plant-based?
(And yes, I get it is a joke)
Well, she’s vegan, so kind of true…
I’m sure it’s not a huge amount of oil they’re using, but are you supposed to just wash it off in the sink? I sure hope this doesn’t lead to fatbergs.
The article doesn’t say much but I’m going to assume it’s just a spray that serves the same purpose as the plastic.
Cucumbers are individually wrapped because it extends their shelf life by retaining moisture where the skin doesn’t really.
I think these guys are saying that coating them with this oil does the same thing.
Apples are sprayed with a waxy coating to make them look shinier. Most people like shiny apples and have no idea that it’s artificial.
In summary, you’re not supposed to wash it off and if you did it’s probably not enough to contribute to fatbergs.
Since it’s oil based it probably doesn’t wash off without using soap or at least hot water, wouldn’t be effective it it did anyway. It’s meant to be eaten along with the produce, given that the coating is very thin and made of only rapeseed oil and oat oil I doubt it will add any perceptible taste.
You must wash food before you serve it to people. (Sorry for stating the obvious.) If the oil can’t be washed off, it also cannot be exposed to the environment, because it will become contaminated and the contaminants then also can’t be washed off.
Surely if you’re going to eat it, it kinda defeats the point of having a coating in the first place? But if it stays solid I imagine it can be thrown into compost
Why does eating it defeat the purpose of the coating? The purpose is to keep the cucumber from drying out during storage (transport, in the store etc). It can do that even if it is eaten later.
Oh, I was thinking of it as keeping the cucumber clean
Edible. Be the fatberg you’ve always wanted.
Kind of a fun thought getting obese from eating too many oil covered cucumbers.
If only there were a way to get plants to grow their own coating, a skin, if you will.
Cucumbers without the plastic coating end up using more oil since they lose weight to respiration.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I mean the knee jerk reaction is that this is completely useless but after some consideration this could work. If you want a solution that slots in well with the current supply chain and everything this could be a pretty ideal one.
