Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides – Best and Worst Produce

An EWG (Environmental Work Group) simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 80 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 10 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 15 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day. Less dramatic comparisons will produce less dramatic reductions, but without doubt using the Guide provides people with a way to make choices that lower pesticide exposure in the diet.

Dirty Peach

(high score = most contaminated; low score = least contaminated)

Resources

http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php

http://www.foodnews.org/methodology.php