Who does not love strawberries? These sweet little berries that put the finishing touch on everything from cakes, desserts and breakfast yogurt. But how healthy are they? And is it true that they can contain a lot of poison?

First of all, we can state that strawberries, just like many other berries, are super duper healthy. Strawberries contain lots of vitamins, minerals and fiber. If we shout: “Who contains vitamin C, fiber and folic acid?”, strawberries will quickly raise their hands. The only problem is that if we shout: “Who contains the most poison?”, some of the strawberries will also raise their hands.

Strawberries are very sensitive to pests, such as mold and insects (the most common threat is fungal infections, followed by small insects such as strawberry mites). And what do you think is being done about that problem? Well, you spray them with plant protection products. Strawberries have in some cases have even been shown to contain the poison carbendazim (which is banned in Sweden).

In Sweden, fortunately, there are rules for which pesticides may be used here and in what way, and on the National Food Administration’s website we read that in the National Food Administration’s random checks made in 2020 there were no samples with levels above the permitted limits. The measured average concentrations were between 2 and 10 percent of the limit values, and in strawberries grown in Sweden, almost half of the samples (40 percent) did not contain any measurable residues at all. Feel free to check out what applies in the country you live in!

We ourselves therefore always choose domestic strawberries over imported and always organic strawberries if possible. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to find just organic strawberries (at least in Sweden). Do you remember we wrote that strawberries are sensitive to mold and insects? Without treatment, the strawberries are difficult to grow and alternative treatment methods without artificial chemicals are not always as effective, which means that farmers are at greater risk of their crops being destroyed or becoming smaller than under ordinary conventional cultivation.

Elevator pitch strawberries

1. Examine what applies in your country!
2. Keep your eyes open for organic strawberries.
3. Wash the strawberries thoroughly.
4. Enjoy like a thousand when you eat them!

Strawberry recipes from FP:

Frozen Strawberry Milk With Strawberries And Lime

Gazpacho With Strawberries

Raw 3-Ingredient Strawberry Balls

Strawberry Yogurt with Green Secrets