The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has produced the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce listing the Dirty Dozen and the Cleanest 12 foods.
The information on this guide is based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce by the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2004. It’s available for free download at www.foodnews.org.
Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 15 pesticides a day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to fewer than two pesticides a day. Certain fruits and vegetables are so likely to be contaminated with pesticides that the EWG advises buying them organic while some are so consistently clean that they can be eaten with less concern.
Items on the “Dirty Dozen” list are:
Peaches and apples topped the Dirty Dozen list. Almost 97 percent of peaches tested positive for pesticides, and almost 87 percent had two or more pesticide residues. About 92 percent of apples tested positive, and 79 percent had two or more pesticides. Sigh, what a pity!
The rest of the Dirty Dozen are sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.
Items on the “Consistently Clean” list are:
Onions, avocados, and sweet corn top the list. For all three foods, more than 90 percent of the samples tested had no detectable pesticide residues. Others on the list are pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant.
Chapter: Health :: 21 August 2008
