Produce 'washes' as effective as water Wednesday, January 1, 2003 By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO -- Commercially marketed "produce washes" that claim great efficiency in removing pesticide residue from vegetables are in fact not much more effective than plain tap water, according to a new study by University of California, Riverside, researchers. Robert Krieger, a toxicologist with the university's extension office, was intrigued reading advertising that such washes are as much as 10 times more effective than water -- claims he determined are a mathematical impossibility because water itself is so efficient. The research comes amid increased consumer...