May 21 2010
The Dirty Dozen
We have long advocated eating organic. Organic food is healthier for you, and better for the environment. And we are convinced that organic chocolate tastes better.
But times are tough, food budgets are strained, and organic food can be more expensive. So it makes sense to spend your organic dollars where they will have the greatest impact. To help us do that, the Environmental Working Group has released rankings of the 49 most commonly consumed fruits and vegetables.
The rankings are based on 96,000 tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the federal Food and Drug Administration. The tests measured for contamination in the following ways.
- Percent of samples tested with detectable pesticides
- Percent of samples with two or more pesticides
- Average number of pesticides found on a single sample
- Average amount (level in parts per million) of all pesticides found
- Maximum number of pesticides found on a single sample
- Total number of pesticides found on the commodity
EWG rated the following 12 foods (the Dirty Dozen) the most contaminated
- Celery
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Nectarines
- Bell Peppers
- Spinach
- Kale
- Cherries
- Potatoes
- Grapes (Imported)
And – the clean 15 (the fruits and vegetables least contamination
- Onions
- Avocado
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapple
- Mangos
- Sweet Peas
- Asparagus
- Kiwi
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Cantaloupe
- Watermelon
- Grapefruit
- Sweet Potato
- Honeydew
- Melon
Find the guide here. So if you have to make choices, go organic for the foods on the first list.
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[...] Eat a varied diet. By organic or local farmers market when you can. If you have to make choices, get the biggest bang for your buck by avoiding conventionally grown food from the dirty dozen [...]