How To Wash Apples To Remove Dirt and Pesticides, According to an Expert

My mom would always slice a few apples after dinner when we were growing up. She’d usually run them under the faucet, wiping them on her apron first, hoping to remove any dirt or germs and that waxy coating.

I don’t do all that much more when I eat an apple today, so I got to wondering whether I was doing enough to make sure my apples are as safe as possible to eat. So, I reached out to an expert to learn the best method of cleaning apples.

Why Do You Need to Wash Apples?

Whether you buy them at a grocery store or a farmers market, apples can have unsavory things on their surface like pesticides, mold, or dirt. That’s why it’s important to wash them before taking a bite, says Dr. Keith Warriner, a professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

“When apples are harvested, they are carried along in a water flume, which can be contaminated with pathogens that spread to the apples,” Warriner explains. The fruit is washed, but that doesn’t necessarily remove all contaminants.

“The apples are then waxed to enhance their shelf life. It is a physical barrier to prevent mold and dehydration.” This waxy coating can include fungicides to stop mold from forming on the fruit, but these chemicals are non-toxic and approved by government regulations such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Health Canada.

Although they could still have dirt and other unsavory substances on them, at least I don’t need to worry about the wax on just-picked apples from farmers markets. “If apples are freshly harvested then taken to market, they wouldn’t have a wax layer,” Warriner says. “This would go for both conventional and organic apples.”

What Is the Best Way To Wash Apples?

“The wax and pesticides on apples can be removed by soaking, preferably by washing under running water,” Warriner says. “The way to think of the coating is like an oil layer, so it can be washed away, especially using warm water.”

The easiest and most effective way to wash away germs and dirt is by rinsing the apple under running water, he says. You can also use a spray of vinegar and water or baking soda and water; just be sure to rinse your apple thoroughly afterwards.

The FDA suggests avoiding soap, detergent, or commercial produce wash because produce is porous. According to the FDA, “Soap and household detergents can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables, despite thorough rinsing, and can make you sick. Also, the safety of the residues of commercial produce washes is not known and their effectiveness has not been tested.”

Warriner is not a fan of soaking apples to clean them because sinks can collect germs that can transfer to your fruit. He also doesn’t advocate the use of a produce brush to scrub the apple because, if the brush isn’t totally clean, it can also trigger contamination.

Should You Peel the Apple?

Peeling an apple also removes the dirt and germs, but you should still rinse the outside first because your knife or peeler can spread any contaminants from the peel onto the flesh of the fruit.

“You may also wish to leave the core, as sometimes pathogens can infiltrate the stem,” Warriner says. “Also, don’t eat the seeds, not because an apple tree will grow inside your belly but because they may contain trace levels of cyanide.” Warriner is quick to note that the amount of  cyanide in apple seeds is not lethal. Still, you want to avoid ingesting any amount of the  poison at all.

After speaking with Warriner and doing some more research, I was pleased to find out that my method of cleaning apples is pretty good, after all. From here on in, I will simply adjust the tap water I’m running over my apples, so it’s warm enough to remove the wax at times of year when I can’t get just-picked fruit.