Shopping Guide to Pesticides in Produce
Published by the Environmental Working Group
Each year the Environmental Working Group posts a guide to inform consumers of which conventionally-farmed produce is most contaminated with pesticides and which is the least contaminated. If you do not exclusively buy organic produce, then we strongly advise that you at least buy organic when purchasing the produce listed in the Dirty Dozen. You will notice there are more than a dozen products listed in the Dirty Dozen. The extra two products (kale/collared greens and summer squash) didn’t meet the Environmental Working Group’s criteria for this category, but the pesticides they did have were of such a toxic nature that they felt they should be recognized.
If you cannot eat organic produce, however, it is still much better to eat conventional produce than to remove or reduce fruits and vegetables from your diet!
The Dirty Dozen:
(plus a few)
- Apples
- Celery
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Grapes
- Hot Peppers
- Nectarines (imported)
- Peaches
- Potatoes
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Kale/Collared Greens
- Summer Squash
The Clean Fifteen:
