The old adage “an apple a day” may need a bit of revising. A study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found that 92% of non-organic apples contain pesticides. Now, the EWG is suggesting that if you can afford to buy organic apples then you should but if you can’t you should still eat apples.
That is why the Environmental Working Group’s Shoppers Guide To Pesticides is a valuable resource for those consumers who are concerned about pesticides in their food. It has list of the fruits and vegetables with the most amount of pesticides so shoppers on a budget can refer to the list and hopefully buy some organic produce Printable Pesticides In Produce List (PDF)
Pesticides in produce
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 detectable 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.
The study ranked pesticide contamination in 53 fruits and vegetables based on an analysis of 51,000 tests for pesticides between 2000 to 2009 by the FDA and the USDA. The tests were conducted after the produce was rinsed and peeled.
Pesticides in produce list | 12 fruits and vegetables with the most pesticides
- Apples
- Celery
- Strawberries
- Peaches
- Spinach
- Imported Nectarines
- Imported Grapes
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Potatoes
- Domestic Blueberries
- Lettuce
- Kale/Collard Greens
Pesticides in produce list | 15 fruits and vegetables with the least amount of pesticides
- Onions
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapples
- Avocado
- Asparagus
- Sweet Peas
- Mangoes
- Eggplant
- Domestic Cantaloupe
- Kiwi
- Cabbage
- Watermelon
- Sweet Potatoes
- Grapefruit
- Mushrooms
