According to Motts® you should wash your apples with fresh drinking water just before eating but not before storing. The wax does come right off. Try a vegetable brush and lightly scrub under the faucet.
Posts: 1866 | Location: MS gulf coast by debris pile | Registered: 06-05-02
Wash under clean, cool, tap water, scrub gently with clean vegetable brush and rinse again.
Some people use soap. I know someone who used bleach once. You should never use either.
Also, it is recommended that you do not just soak in water. Soaking in water just has the fruit sitting in the dirty water. Running it uner water is best.
You should also wait until just before you eat it to wash it. You shouldn't wash it and then store it because it can pick up unclean things while storing.
Posts: 2414 | Location: I live where I live and that's where I live. | Registered: 06-03-02
I wash my vegetables and fruit with vinegar water. I always wash my melons before I cut into them. I use dishsoap because I know I will be peeling them and it won't affect the taste of the fruit.
Posts: 9 | Location: United States | Registered: 11-11-03
Plain water and a soft vegetable brush does the trick for all waxes - you would be amazed at how many store bought fruits and vegetables are waxed to give them that nice shiny appearance.
And it does a few other things, such as keep the fruit hydrated, prevent early rot and what not.
What is used is not wax like what you would get from a candle.
Carnauba wax is shaken from the harvested leaves of the carnauba palm. Shellac wax is a resin secreted by the lac beetle, an insect found in Asia, to protect its eggs. Lac production by this insect is similar to honey production by bees.
These are FDA approved fruit coverings, are harmless and since one gallon of wax can cover 12,000 pounds of fruit (that's a whole lot of apples) you really are not getting that much.
Did you know that it is mandatory for waxed covered fruits to be washed before they are waxed? Why is that, to prevent the trapping of mold and bacteria that cause decay in the fruit skin to begin with!
Beneath the wax is a clean piece of fruit.
Cheers
David
Posts: 3885 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02