Should your apple sparkle like a diamond before you take a bite or should you remove commercial grade wax added by apple packers before that delectable crunch?

Except for apple pie and applesauce, I always eat the peel. So what about that wax ... is it trapping pesticides? Is it necessary? Why wax in the first place?

According to Julie's Health Club, the U.S. Apple Association and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), here are a few apple wax facts:

• Used on fruits/veggies since the 1920s, different waxes applied to produce are allegedly safe to eat, says the FDA.
  
• Apples possess a natural wax, which is mostly lost after post-harvest cleaning methods.
• Waxing apples facilitates earlier harvest and longer storage, but earlier picking also means fewer vitamins/minerals.
  
• One expert shares that to scrub wax off -- and any pesticides lurking beneath -- add a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of baking soda to a sinkful of water. But watch out, that germ-ridden kitchen sink is the worst place to set fruit before washing it!
  
• Scrub apples under lukewarm water with a vegetable brush, says the U.S. Apple Association.
• The FDA also offers a set of recommendations on how to wash, scrub and dry various produce before eating.

Apple wax on or wax off? Let us know in the poll below. At the very least, elbow grease burns calories.

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