WAXY FEELING TOMATOES

Excerpts from Jim Conrad's
Naturalist Newsletter

from the March 15, 2019 Newsletter issued from Rancho Regensis north of Valladolid, Yucatán, MÉXICO;
elevation ~40m (~130 ft), N~20.876°, W~88.170°
WAXY-FEELING TOMATOES
At a local garbage dump I noticed a cardboard box maybe in good enough condition to flatten for a spot in the garden badly needing some kind of soil-water-preserving mulch, so I went to take a look. The Farmer's Best company had used the box for shipping tomatoes to here. Farmer's Best is based in Nogales, Arizona, but most of its produce is grown in Mexico's northwestern state of Sinaloa. What caught my attention about the box were the words shown in my picture below:

I didn't know what o-Phenylphenol, food mineral oil petrolatum, or carnuba wax were, but I figured it would be a good idea to learn, since I eat plenty of tomatoes from local markets.

Apparently o-Phenylphenol often is referred to as 2-Phenylphenol (the o standing for ortho). The Wikipedia page for 2-Phenylphenol describes the compound as commonly used for harvested fruits and vegetables as a protection against microbial damage during storage and distribution. The US Government Toxicology Data Network page for o-Phenylphenol says that there's not enough evidence as to the compound's carcinogenicity (cancer-causing properties) for it to be classifiable. However, animal studies indicate that 5oz (142g) would be lethal to a 150lb (68kg) adult.

A World Health Organization page on "mineral oil (food grade)" describes the oil as used as a coating for fruit. Also it says that there is no doubt that the compound impedes the absorption into the body of carotene. Otherwise, basically the document says that there's not enough information available to say exactly what the effects are of food grade mineral oil in the body, but warns that "exposure to mineral oils should be kept to a minimum."

The Wikipedia page for carnuba wax describes it as a wax of the leaves of the palm Copernicia prunifera, native to and grown only in northeastern Brazil. It's used in many ways, including in shoe polishes, on dental floss, lipstick and mascara, to cover medicinal tablets, and to keep shipped fruit fresh. At the MapleHolistics.Com page for carnuba wax I find that "While carnuba wax in it’s natural form is generally considered safe for human ingestion (whether orally or through the surface of the skin) due to the fact that it does not get absorbed into our system and simply tends to pass through our bodies without affecting our biological processes." The main problem some people report with it is that eye liner and mascara containing it sometimes clog the oil glands, causing dry eye disease. Also, sometimes the palms are illegally harvested from the forest, damaging the forest ecosystem.

When I rub my fingers across store-bought tomatoes here, they're waxy-feeling. Now I know enough to keep scrubbing those tomatoes until the waxiness is gone. In fact, I scrub all such fruits and vegetables bought in stores. Here we're not even considering the insecticides, fungicides and the rest, and those compound's breakdown residues, remaining on any produce, even after a good washing.

When on the ingredients statement you find that you're eating something you don't know about, keep in mind that you can do a search on those items and find out about them exactly as has been done here.