Feeding fresh produce to your family is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. The problem we run into with fresh fruits and veggies and other smooth skinned produce is the chemicals, bacteria, wax, preservatives and pesticides that are on produce. I wondered what was the best way to clean my produce and found this study. According to a study by Cooks Illustrated (and reported by NPR) they tested the different methods to cleaning your produce. They tested bacteria levels when produce was cleaned with a scrub brush, water alone, a Veggie Wash, and vinegar and water soak. They found cheap vinegar wash to be the best at cleaning your produce, it removed 98 percent of the bacteria from the produce!

So when you bring home your next grocery cart full of produce, give it a soak in vinegar and water (one part vinegar to three parts water), and then rinse it with cold water to get the vinegar residue off. Vinegar is safe for you, safe for the environment and is cheap too! Like I needed yet another reason for me to buy vinegar by the gallon!