Researchers have discovered that the best way to wash pesticides from your family's apples is one cheap and effective product that most people always keep on hand in their homes. That's right, it's not one of those fancy expensive washes you see in the produce section or the cleaning department at your favorite box store, that you can only use to wash fruit. It's a multi-purpose household essential that you use again and again.
More from MamásLatinas: Pomegranate: 5 amazing benefits of this Winter super fruit
Research conducted with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, studied the effectiveness of both commercial and DIY cleaning agents, and determined that baking soda is the most effective at removing dangerous pesticides from apple skin.
Conventionally-grown apples routinely make the EWG's "Dirty Dozen" list due to the prevalent use of pesticides to grow them and the fact that most people eat the skin, which retains the heaviest concentrations of the pesticide residue. In 2017, apples came in at number 4.
For those who can't afford or don't have access to organic apples, a soak in a solution of 1 percent baking soda mixed with water for about 15 minutes removes about 80 percent of residue from the fungicide thiabendazole and 96 percent of the insecticide phosmet.
While I don't know anyone who washes their produce for that long, it wouldn't be that difficult to do, especially if you got it done as you unpack the rest of your groceries.
Plus, you probably already have the baking soda, which typically costs less than $1 per box, and can be purchased at nearly any grocery store. Baking soda is also well-known for its ability to whiten laundry, clean toilets and sinks, remove stains, loosen food stuck on pans and more.
And I mean, you can use whatever's leftover to bake up a batch of cookies to go alongside those apples at snack time, so you win either way.
