Cleaning Fruits, Veggies and Meats Naturally: iGOZEN Review

Over the years, I’ve become more and more aware of both the pesticides on my foods—and the chemicals in my everyday life. It makes sense that as you begin to eat cleaner and cleaner, you don’t just want to eat nutritious foods, but you also really start to take notice of all of the different ways your environment may be affecting your health. There’s some differing research on organics and all that, but I think we can probably all agree that it makes sense to try to ingest fewer chemicals, artificial hormones and stay safer from food-borne illness. Am I right, or am I right?
(Gonna pretend you said “right” there!)
I’ve been buying more organic fruits and veggies lately, but as I mentioned in a recent post, I’ve also been more cognizant of washing my foods. Lately, I’ve just been using this stuff, which is reasonable and found at my favorite store.
BUT, FBE HQ was recently sent some iGOZEN cleaner that caught my eye for a number of reasons. First, there’s a blend to clean produce and another to clean meats and fish (Oh, never cleaned those before!). Second, the stuff is 100 percent organic and eco-friendly. Third, it’s hypoallergenic. And fourth? It’s made of a microfine powder of seashells that removes dirt, toxins, pesticides and bacteria. It’s so friendly that even you, your pet or your kids can lick it. (Not that you’d really want to, but just in case someone gets tongue-happy.)

Totally intrigued, I got to testing it. First, you take the iGOZEN spray bottle, fill it with water and then add the iGOZEN powder. Give it a quick shake, and you’re ready to go. (You have to shake it before each use.)

The first thing I tested the iGOZEN on was a lemon that I was going to zest. A quick spray, a short soak (I couldn’t find directions on exactly how long to “soak” it for, so I just went with a couple of minutes)…

And then a rinsing and a zesting I went. I didn’t lick the iGOZEN, but the peel definitely seemed squeaky clean.
Up next, fish! I’m not sure how the different blends differ, but apparently they do because there are separate spray bottles for each.

I sprayed my tiliapia fillets…and then let them soak.

Then I rinsed them them off, patted them dry and broiled them up (more on how that recipe turned out tomorrow!). Again, I didn’t lick them, but they had no weird taste and seemed clean. No seashell fragments to speak of either.
iGOZEN claims that its sprays will eliminate 99.99 percent of E.coli and Salmonella bacteria, which is pretty darn rad. Between that and getting rid of the pesticides—and the fact that iGOZEN is made of freakin’ seashells (I love natural solutions…)—I’m a fan. While it’s not something that has benefits that I can really see or taste, it’s worth it to me to take the extra step to spray, soak and rinse my eats. And, really, the stuff is priced pretty reasonably.
So tell us: Do you clean your produce and meats and fish before eating them? Do you use any special products to do so? ––Jenn