Washing fruits and vegetables will wash away some pesticides. But it just won't get rid of bacteria on your produce. Taking off the skin or outer layer may help but bacteria on your produce will often find its way past the surface.

Your best bet is to look for safer fruits and vegetables. Where should you look for safer produce?

"When you get your produce from small farmers that raise their food in natural settings using clean water, as opposed to massive agribusiness conglomerations that use sewage sludge as fertilizer, there is very little risk in eating these foods raw. The same goes for meat, eggs, and raw dairy products, as well."

Think farmer's markets and family farms as places to find safer produce.

You can also soak fruits and vegetables in water containing ozone. Ozone will get rid of pesticides on the outside of produce. Ozone is less toxic than soaking produce in bleach.

It's easy these days to get insecure about the food we eat. Just purchase the safest produce available to you, remove whatever impurities you can, and otherwise, maintain a healthy immune system to protect you from the rest.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/06/05/does-washing-produce-get-rid-of-bacteria.aspx