Every healthy diet endorses eating lots of fresh produce. But, even fresh produce carries a health risk…pesticides.The answer…buy organic, if you can, as produce grown organically is grown without synthetic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
Every healthy diet endorses eating lots of fresh produce. But, even fresh produce carries a health risk…pesticides.The answer…buy organic, if you can, as produce grown organically is grown without synthetic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.The Environmental Work Group ( EWG), a nonprofit organization that uses the power of public information to protect public health and the environment put together a Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides, which identifies those fruits and vegetables that carry the highest risk of pesticides and those that are considered less of a pesticide risk.
What follows is their list of the “Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 of Produce.” EWG suggests that you buy organic for produce appearing on the Dirty Dozen list as these fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of pesticides.
The Dirty Dozen of Produce:
1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. Nectarines ( imported)
7. Grapes
8. Bell Peppers
9. Potatoes
10. Blueberries
11. Lettuce
12. Kale/Collard Greens
The Clean 15 of Produce:
1. Onions
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapple
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
