All Articles, Featured, Food & Nutrition, Health & Wellness
The 12 Most Toxic Fruits & Veggies
| May 3, 2010 | |
| Jo Wehage : Head Operations Ego |
So Where’s a Girl to Shop?
Great deals on healthy fruits and vegetables can be found if you pay attention. Being that Farmer’s Markets aren’t too plentiful just yet, I took it upon myself to compare pricing at five different grocery stores over the last few days. (Parrr-tay!) The goal: to seek out all available organic and conventional pricing on the Dirty Dozen, and the least contaminated, The Clean 15 for side-by-side comparison.
For those of you who are good at math, that was a goal of 54 different price tags at five different stores totaling more than 270 separate price notations. I say more because I couldn’t help myself, so I compared some of my favorite items that ranked in the middle of EWG’s list as well.
Note to all the ladies out there. Dragging your man along as an assistant for this task is NOT a grand way to get him jumping for joy. (PS: Thanks R!)
So what did I find when I shopped Whole Foods, Meijer, Sam’s, Kroger’s and Aldi? Give me a second, I’m still typing up that list, should be on the site in the next day or two! And if the stars align, I’ll add Trader Joe’s to the list before I’m through.
In the mean time, consider these other notations from EWG:
• More than 96 percent of peaches tested positive for pesticides, followed by nectarines (95.1 percent) and apples (93.6 percent).
• Strawberries and domestic blueberries each had 13 pesticides detected on a single sample.
• Peaches had been treated with more pesticides than any other produce, registering combinations of up to 67 different chemicals. Strawberries were next, with 53 pesticides and apples with 47.
• Celery, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale, collard greens and potatoes are the vegetables most likely to retain pesticide contamination:
• Some 95 percent all celery samples tested positive for pesticides, followed by imported cucumbers (84.5 percent) and potatoes (84.2 percent).
• Celery had been treated with as many as 67 pesticides, followed by sweet bell peppers (63) and kale (57).
• Asparagus, sweet corn, and onions had no detectable pesticide residues on 90 percent or more of samples.
• The fruits least likely to test positive for pesticide residues are avocados, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, domestic cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit and honeydew.
For more details, the full list, and the downloadable pocket guide visit EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides.
Page:
[11 Comments] [11 Comments]
Awesome! Thanks for the great info!
I will print this out and make note of it. I usually just go ahead and buy organic no matter what; but at times we slip. What do you think of using Fit wash to clean off the pesticides?
Hi Tami!
Good question. I’ve heard pros and cons of Fit Wash. I also had an M.D. tell me his research indicated that just a touch of dish soap helped as well.
GREAT INFO — BUT CELERY #1 — YIKES. MADE 3 COPIES OF THE “SHOPPER’S GUIDE” I’M SURE KENNY WILL BUY ORGANIC – OH YEAH.
These lists drive me nuts. Breathing air “may” result in lung cancer or toe cramps. Talk with doctors or FDA and find out what levels of the pesticide residues are dangerous to humans. When you find fruits and vegetables with levels ABOVE that, THEN put out lists with some real facts.
Or be paranoid. Eat nothing that you don’t grow yourself.
Hi Roger,
Thanks for your comment. All kidding aside, I think breathing air in the Ohio River Valley may unfortunately be part of the issue as well. Cancer rates in our city are routinely higher than other U.S. cities. I don’t know any doctors that are well versed on pesticides, but if it makes you feel any less nuts about the list know that it is based on an analysis of 96,000 tests for pesticides on these foods, conducted from 2000 to 2009 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the federal Food and Drug Administration. Also, since pesticide toxins cumulate in tissues I wouldn’t wait for one serving to rank at a level that one governing body deems unsafe to humans.
I agree that it can be frustrating and easy to fall victim to gloom, doom and paranoia if you let yourself. It’s my hope that folks will at least note the top 12 on the list and either buy organic or make another choice. I personally find the fact that doing that alone can reduce 80% of pesticides consumed on produce empowering.
Jo,
Thank you Jo for the well reasoned response. It’s much more diplomatic than mine
. I work in the food manufacturing and I see the years of studies that go into getting a new chemical lining approved for a tin can, pesticides to keep your fruits healthy & free of bugs, fertilizers that allow you to eat food that may costs 2X or 3X otherwise, and preservatives that let you eat fresh food long after it would normally make one sick.
We have the healthiest and most inexpensive fruits and vegetables in the world due to the hard work and years of studies that come before approving any chemical used on food before it’s used. And I am happy to feed my children celery, spinach, and strawberries (when I can get them to eat them…). I’m tickled pink that, thanks to modern farming, these are available year round to eat.
For the record, “naturally” occurring substances that can grow and infest non-treated food make a scary list too. But, like the studies you’re quoting, hard facts about the true health effects of increased E. Coli or listeria contamination on organic foods are not out there.
I have no issues with people eating “organic” foods—some people can afford them. And it gives them peace of mind. But I sincerely doubt that the negative effects of eating the delicious and healthy foods listed above outweigh the benefits. But you’re 100% right, these fruits and veggies “may” cause all kinds of health problems someday for people eating them.
Roger!
Wow.. Roger, you must work for the agrobusiness industry eh?
Our factory farms are a travesty. All this “Green Revolution” has stripped our soil and poisoned our environment.
All we get is acres upon acres of industrial CORN and SOY.. not diverse locally grown produce.
That is what the “green revolution” created. An Illusion.
Monsanto, is one of the LEADING companies that has contributed to the degradation of our food quality. They are creating Franken GENETICALLY MODIFIED foods (that have NOT been adequately tested) and are harrassing small farmers all over the world so Monsanto can dominate our food production system!
It is a travesty.
Don’t drink the koolaid. Our agricultural food system is precariously situated right now for a huge fall, which will probably lead to shortages and starvation. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
I suggest researching PERMACULTURE and BIODYNAMIC agriculture for alternatives…. and we need to lower the cost of foods.
No more corn and soy subsidies to big Farms!….
This is propaganda by organic farmers. I don’t have anything against organic food, but your should know what you are buying. Here are a few points that were left out so the reader would assume otherwise:
1) Organic foods also contain pesticides. The only requirement is that the pesticide not be man made. This also means that the pesticide is not nearly as effective as man made pesticides. So it may take 7 treatments of an organic pesticide to be as effective as 2 treatments as a man made one. Remember, many things are toxic; it is the dose that makes the poison.
2) Organic pesticides are not tested for their toxicity and how long they persist. The incorrect assumption has been that something natural is safe and man made is not. But this is not true, natural poison will kill you just as synthetic poison will.
3) The USDA study samples included organic foods. See page 8 of the latest Pesticide Data Program (year 2008). “Samples are selected without regard to country of origin, variety, or organic labeling.” So organic foods are included.
4) Look at the tables of data in the report. If pesticides are found they are often 100 times lower than the amount that is absolutely considered safe.
You can find the USDA’s report on their website. Google: usda pesticide data program
Oh – that’s rich. Propaganda from organic farmers? The data was an analysis from the FDA and the USDA. So am I to surmise that organic farmers have taken over these government agencies? Well, I feel better already.
If samples were selected without regard to the items you mentioned, that’s unfortunate. I’d bet the percentage of organics was miniscule at best.
Good to know. Celery is the worse offender!