• a red apple with a slice cut out on a white background
    Healthy Living

    Poison Apples

    I grew up on “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” My most vivid grade-school history lesson centered around Johnny Appleseed. I truly believe that something can be “as American as apple pie.” But a recent statistic made me worry that American apples aren’t safe, anymore. A new report from the Environmental Working Group found that 80% of apples are coated with a pesticide that’s banned in Europe because it could be carcinogenic.  European regulators are worried too—so worried about the connection between diphenylamine and nitrosamines, a family of potent cancer-causing chemicals, that they banned the use of DPA on apples and pears in June 2012. That’s why I started a petition…