Investigating e-mail FW: Be Careful when eating apples it is covered with WAX !!‏

Doing something new today, investigating those forwarded emails that I received. Reason: I notice people tend to BELIEVE these e-mails claims 100% without questioning their validity and truthfulness. I remember one time, the local photocopy shop posted a forwarded email about mystical being/creature and once I googled it, it's actually a picture of a sculpture somewhere in Europe!

On with the show!

First up: FW: Be Careful when eating apples it is covered with WAX !!‏

Original email:

Be Careful when eating apples. Please don't eat the skin of the apple because it's coated with wax. Check before you eat many of the fruits. WAX is being used for preservation purposes and cold storage. You might be surprised especially apples from USA and other parts are more than one year old, though it would look fresh. Becox wax is coated, preventing bacteria to enter. So it does not get dry. Please Eat apples after removing the wax as demonstrated below. Please follow this and let others know....

So, is this true?

If my science was correct, apples do have a natural wax on their skin. However, I have learned that these natural wax were removed as they (the producers) have to washed these apples from dust and chemical residues. Then the apple is waxed again: reason is to slow down moisture loss, enhances firmness retention and slows down the apple respiration rate.

Question:Subsitute wax+commercial apples in local supermarket=safe?

Answer: Yes! According to the US Apple Association (remember, the email claim apples especially from the USA):

Waxes have been used on fruits and vegetables since the 1920s. They are all made from natural ingredients, and are certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be safe to eat. They come from natural sources including carnauba wax, from the leaves of a Brazilian palm; candellia wax, derived from reed-like desert plants of the genus Euphorbia; and food-grade shellac, which comes from a secretion of the lac bug found in India and Pakistan. These waxes are also approved for use as food additives for candy and pastries. (Now you know why your chocolate bars melt in your mouth but not in your hand…)

Go google it and you will find many other apple companies also stated that this wax is FDA approved and SAFE to eat. Why those same kind of waxes are part of our favourite chocolate/candy/pastries!

Extra info goodness: These wax formulations are natural, non-petroleum based coatings.(Washington Apples website)

So, it is assumed safe to eat this apples on the spot? NO! Why? You still gotta wash them. Reason: DIRT! And also other people with unwashed hands touching them!

If for some reason you still FEAR the wax, you could remove them by scrubbing with a vegetable brush briefly in lukewarm water and rinsed before eating, as suggested by the US Apples Association. Another alternative: cut 'em apart.

For me, I just washed them apples and eat it with its skin! NOM NOM NOM!

PS: By NOT eating the skin, your missing out on this: The skin of Apple contain pectin that can help remove toxic substances from the system by supplying galacturonic acid. Pectin helps prevent protein matter in the intestine from spoiling. I even heard along side bananas, it can also ease your diarrhea problem. So your loss for not eating them delicious skins XD

=Masta DBCkun=

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FYI: It looks good on the preview, but when i posted this article, it went a bit messy (especially the bottom half). Have no absolute idea what happened to it. Sorry for the reading inconvenience