Washing Waxed Apples???

[Mawood]

Recently a friend of mine told me that she doesn't bother washing waxed apples anymore as she doesn't believe it does anything good. She said washing a candle doesn't really work either... we usually buy organic but even those apples are waxed. I keep washing them and if it is just to get hand prints off from people who touched them but every time I wash them now and see the water perling off I am thinking of my friends theory...

What do you think?

[deditus]

I either buy unwaxed, local organic apples, or I soak them in a sink full of water with vinegar in it. You can see that the vinegar starts to dissolve the wax off.

[ASusan]

Can I just say that food is a PITA these days?

I, too, go for the local apples when I can.

When they're from the store, they're slippery and ugh...but I eat them. Washed lightly is all I bother with, and they get peeled (usually) for DS>.

[tanyalynn]

I figure washing waxed apples is more for the germs from peoples' hands, and while I'm not terribly germaphobic, I don't need to go out of my way if we could be talking gastro bugs, which are just not fun to deal with with little kids. 

I'll be trying the prolonged vinegar soak. 

[Dootsmama]

I buy organic only as they don't use wax - and even then I peel them. I'm allergic to corn and the wax on apples is actually corn starch.

[brendajw]

I like a combo wash that is vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (you can use food grade and dilute it with good water to 3%). Keep a little spray bottle of each by the sink and then spritz a colander of veggies/fruit with each liquid. Let it sit for a few minutes and then rinse. Apparently Susan Sumner, a food scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, worked out the recipe for this excellent disinfecting fruit and veggie cleaner (does counter tops too . . . just keep it off metal). Deals with any potential Salmonella, Shigella, or E. coli bacteria on the food.