Dirty Dozen: Fruits & Veggies With Most Pesticides (Plus the Clean 15)

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The EWG has released this year’s list of the 2017 Dirty Dozen fruits and veg plus the Clean Fifteen. What is that you are wondering? The Dirty Dozen is a list of fruits and vegetables which is most contaminated with pesticides and the Clean Fifteen is a list of fruits and vegetables which has the least pesticide in it. This list helps you know which of your hard earned dollars would be best spent on organic, because lets face it, unless you are very financially comfortable buying all organic is out of reach. Knowledge is power though, so here is some information to help you make the most informed decision when deciding on your shopping list this year.

An all-organic diet is not always an option, so you can use the Shopper’s Guide to choose a mix of conventional and organic produce that works for your needs:

The Dirty Dozen Fruits and Veggies (2017)

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Nectarines
4. Apples
5. Peaches
6. Celery
7. Grapes
8. Pears
9. Cherries
10. Tomatoes
11. Sweet Bell Peppers
12. Potatoes

Key findings:

• Nearly all samples of strawberries, spinach, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apples tested positive for residue of at least one pesticide.
• The most contaminated sample of strawberries had 20 different pesticides.
• Spinach samples had an average of twice as much pesticide residue by weight than any other crop. Three-fourths of spinach samples had residues of a neurotoxic pesticide banned in Europe for use on food crops – it’s part of a class of pesticides that recent studies link to behavioral disorders in young children.

Read Further: EWG Dirty Dozen

On the flip side of this the EWG also released a list of the least contaminated fruits and vegetables (The Clean 15). Relatively few pesticides were detected on these foods and tests found low total concentrations of pesticide residues on them.

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The 2017 Clean 15

1. Sweet corn
2. Avocados
3. Pineapples
4. Cabbage
5. Onions
6. Frozen Sweet Peas
7. Papayas (yeah! one of my healthy skin faves! Check out my recipe with Papaya)
8. Asparagus
9. Mangoes
10. Eggplant
11. Honeydew Melon
12. Kiwis
13. Cantaloupe
14. Cauliflower
15. Grapefruit

Sonya Lunder, an EWG senior analyst commented: “Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is essential no matter how they’re grown, but for the items with the heaviest pesticide loads, we urge shoppers to buy organic. If you can’t buy organic, the Shopper’s Guide will steer you to conventionally grown produce that is the lowest in pesticides.”

My personal thoughts on organic food is to do your best and use the information you have to make informed decisions. I don’t think its hard to agree that the less chemicals that our bodies need to deal with the better off we will be. Hope this help you!  Whats your view on buying organic? Worth the extra cost or not really?