WASHINGTON — An environment watchdog released its annual list of the fruits and vegetables with the most and least pesticide residue, and it’s bad news for apple fans.
For the fourth year in a row, the Environmental Working Group put apples on the top of its list of the “Dirty Dozen” fruits and vegetables, those it says have the highest concentrations of pesticides relative to other produce..
Avocados top this year’s “Clean Fifteen” list, which are fruits and vegetables least likely to have pesticide residues.
The EWG isn’t recommending that people stop buying these fruits and vegetables and says the benefit of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweighs the risks of exposure to pesticides.
Dirty Dozen:
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Celery
- Peaches
- Spinach
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Nectarines – Imported
- Cucumbers
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Snap Peas – Imported
- Potatoes
While hot peppers, kale and collard greens did not meet the criteria for containing pesticides, the group says the three “are frequently contaminated with insecticides that are toxic to the human nervous system.”
The group recommends that people who eat a lot of these foods buy organic.
Clean Fifteen
- Avocados
- Sweet corn
- Pineapples
- Cabbage
- Sweet peas – frozen
- Onions
- Asparagus
- Mangoes
- Papayas
- Kiwis
- Eggplant
- Grapefruit
- Cantaloupe
- Cauliflower
- Sweet potatoes
Read the full report from the EWG.
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