EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Executive Summary

Eat your fruits and vegetables! The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure. Use EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides to reduce your exposures as much as possible, but eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all. The Shopper's Guide to Pesticide in Produce will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce.

EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

Dirty Dozen - Buy these organic

1 Apples - the worst

2 Celery

3 Strawberries

4 Peaches

5 Spinach

6 Nectarines – imported

7 Grapes – imported

8 Sweet bell peppers

9 Potatoes

10 Blueberries – domestic

11 Lettuce

12 Kale/collard greens

Clean 15 - Lowest in Pesticide

1 Onions - the best

2 Sweet Corn (Be aware fo GMO.  Corn in the US. is largely genetically modified)

3 Pineapples

4 Avocado

5 Asparagus

6 Sweet peas

7 Mangoes

8 Eggplant

9 Cantaloupe - domestic

10 Kiwi

11 Cabbage

12 Watermelon

13 Sweet potatoes

14 Grapefruit

15 Mushrooms

From Environmental Working Group

Photo credit: wikipedia

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