The Dirty Dozen

By Arden Hills

Going 100% organic isn’t always an option for everyone, and that is why the Environmental Working Group’s annual list of the dirty dozen foods is so useful. The group analyzes data from the Department of Agriculture about pesticide residue and it ranks foods based on how much or little pesticide residue they have. The group estimates that individuals can reduce their exposure by 80% if they switch to organic when buying these 12 foods:

  1. Apples
  2. Celery
  3. Strawberries
  4. Peaches
  5. Spinach
  6. Nectarines (imported)
  7. Grapes
  8. Sweet Bell Peppers
  9. Potatoes
  10. Blueberries
  11. Lettuce
  12. Kale

*The 2011 dirty dozen list reflects testing data from the 2010 harvest, and because some pesticide use is dependent on weather conditions that vary by farm, it may not reflect the pesticide residue on produce in your grocery store.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Comments are closed.