Based on the most current data available, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., has come out with their latest version of the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides, detailing the twelve fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticide contamination ( The Dirty Dozen ) and the fifteen with the lowest levels ( The Clean Fifteen ). The top 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables, referred to as The Dirty Dozen, are as follows with the most contaminated first: Apples, Celery, Strawberries, Peaches, Spinach, Nectarines ( Imported ), Grapes ( Imported ), Sweet Bell Peppers, Potatoes, Blueberries ( Domestic ), Lettuce, and Kale/Collard Greens. At the other end of the scale, the fifteen fruits and vegetables with the lowest concentrations of pesticides, known as The Clean Fifteen, are as follows, with the cleanest first: Onions, Sweet Corn, Pineapples, Avocado, Asparagus, Sweet Peas ( Frozen ), Mangoes, Eggplant, Cantaloupe ( Domestic ), Kiwi, Cabbage, Watermelon, Sweet Potatoes, Grapefruit, and Mushrooms. Most of the samples were washed and peeled prior to being tested, so the rankings reflect the amounts of the chemicals likely to be present in the produce when is it eaten. By choosing to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day from the Clean 15 rather than the Dirty Dozen, the amount of pesticide consumed can be lowered by 92 percent, according to the EWG, and you will also eat fewer types of pesticide. The new Shopper’s Guide is accompanied by the video below in which the renowned physician and health commentator Dr. Andrew Weil gives his recommendations based on the findings.
The Dirty Dozen™
Here are the comments that the EWG made in their report on “The Dirty Dozen”.
Findings on the fruits: The most contaminated fruits are apples, strawberries, peaches, domestic nectarines, imported grapes and domestic blueberries.
• Every sample of imported nectarines tested positive for pesticides, followed by apples (97.8 percent) and imported plums (97.2 percent).
• 92 percent of apples contained 2 or more pesticide residues‚ followed by imported nectarines (90.8 percent) and peaches (85.6 percent).
• Imported grapes had 14 pesticides detected on a single sample. Strawberries and domestic grapes both had 13 different pesticides detected on a single sample.
• As a category. peaches were treated with more pesticides than any other fruit, registering combinations of up to 57 different chemicals. Apples were next, with 56 different pesticides and raspberries with 51.
Findings on the vegetables: The most contaminated vegetables are celery, spinach, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, lettuce and greens (kale and collards).
• Some 96 percent all celery samples tested positive for pesticides, followed by cilantro (92.9 percent) and potatoes (91.4 percent).
• Nearly 90 percent of celery samples contained multiple pesticides, followed by cilantro (70.1 percent) and sweet bell peppers (69.4 percent).
• A single celery sample was contaminated with 13 different chemicals, followed by a single sample of sweet bell peppers (11), and greens (10).
• As a category, hot peppers had been treated with as many as 97 pesticides, followed by cucumbers (68) and greens (66).
The Clean Fifteen
Here are the EWG’s comments on “The Cleanest Fifteen”.
Findings on the fruits: The fruits least likely to test positive for pesticide residues are pineapples, avocados, mangoes, domestic cantaloupe, kiwi, watermelon and grapefruit.
• Fewer than 10 percent of pineapple, mango, and avocado samples showed detectable pesticides, and fewer than one percent of samples had more than one pesticide residue.
• Nearly 55 percent of grapefruit had detectable pesticides but only 17.5 percent of samples contained more than one residue. Watermelon had residues on 28.1 percent of samples, and 9.6 percent had multiple pesticide residues.
Findings on the vegetables: The cleanest vegetables are onions, sweet corn, asparagus, sweet peas, eggplant, cabbage, sweet potatoes and mushrooms.
• Asparagus, sweet corn and onions had no detectable pesticide residues on 90 percent or more of samples.
• More than four-fifths of cabbage samples (81.8 percent) had no detectible pesticides, followed by sweet peas (77.1 percent) and eggplant (75.4 percent).
• Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on vegetables low in overall contamination. No samples of onions and corn had more than one pesticide. Less than 6 percent of sweet potato samples had multiple pesticides.
• Of the low-pesticide vegetables, no single sample had more than 5 different chemicals.
Christopher J. Jones, M.Sc., Ph.D.
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