Q & A Do they spray dye on oranges

Questions and Answers from the Gardener …

     I may have opened the Pandora box when I posted on facebook that I would see if I could answer questions that were bugging the hearts and minds of those viewing this blog.  Being of true “Know it all” nature (even though I might need to make it up on the fly), I will attempt to answer the questions to the best of my ability.

Question:

Shirley asked ... Hell;o Duane: ;o Do the agriculture department spray''oranges that are green an orange color..if some type of discoloration occurs before the oranges''are picked from the trees??

Answer:

The Gardener ... That, my dear Shirley, is a very good question … though it has nothing what-so-ever to do with raised bed gardening in Arkansas, I will still dive headfirst into the Google archives of information to ascertain the validity of your concerns.

     You know, when I first read your question I got a funny little visual image of guys in Mario Brothers outfits runnin’ around with springboards, stilts, paint brushes, ladders, hollaring, “hup, hup, hup”, and being driven by the whip of the evil “Queen of Hearts” from “Alice in Wonderland”.  (you know how my mind works)  I did have to do a little bit of research to find the answer you were lookin’ for.

     I found an answer on the web in another site dedicated to questions of this type.  Here’s a link to the question from some Q & A guys:  http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Do_they_Spray_paint_oranges_before_they_ship_them

… and if that’s not scary enough, I found this site that talks about all kinds of fruits and veggies being treated with dyes to “enhance” their color:

http://www.ehow.com/list_7631752_dyes-enhance-color-fruits-vegetables.html

     I guess that any time you are buying “store-bought” fruits and veggies, you may want to take into consideration that things are going to be added that you may not want in your body.  About the only way to be sure … is to grow it yourself … but if you can’t grow it yourself, at least wash it before you put your mouth on it …

… Duane