The Dirty Dozen
Top 12 Fruits and Vegetables That Test Positive for Pesticides

Aug 13 | archive | subscribe

The Environmental Working Group (EWG), nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington, DC, reports that you can lower your pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding conventional versions of the top 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables.

Peaches and apples topped EWG’s Dirty Dozen list. About 92 percent of apples tested positive, and 79 percent had two or more pesticides. The rest of the Dirty Dozen include sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.

EWG report says the following produce is of least concern in terms of pesticides; onions, avocados, and sweet corn headed the Consistently Clean list. For all three foods, more than 90 percent of the samples tested had no detectable pesticide residues. Others on the Consistently Clean list include pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and papaya.