Pesticides in Fruit & Vegetables

Lower your pesticide exposure by 80%

Pesticide residues in foods is one reason for switching to organic produce. Each year the Environmental Working Group, a not-for-profit US organisation who have a mission  to “use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment” publish a shoppers guide to pesticides in food.

Through their calculations they estimate that we can  lower our pesticide exposure by almost 80 percent by avoiding the 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. Whereas eating the 15 least contaminated will expose a person to less than 2 pesticides per day.

Their evaluation ranks pesticide contamination for 47 popular fruits and vegetables based on an analysis of 87,000 tests for pesticides on these foods, conducted from 2000 to 2007 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. Nearly all the studies used to create the list test produce after it has been rinsed or peeled. Although the list is compiled using US data, given the similarity of farming methods and the number of food miles in the supermarket, it’s reasonable to assume that it will be relevant for British food.

So if you want to lower your pesticide exposure by 80% then avoid the Dirty Dozen:

1. Peach

2. Apple

3. Sweet Bell Pepper

4. Celery

5. Nectarine

6. Strawberries

7. Cherries

8. Kale

9. Lettuce

10. Grapes

11. Carrot

12. Pear

Top of the ‘Clean 15′ list, those fruits and vegetables with least pesticide residues are onion, avocado and sweetcorn. While the non-organic versions of these aren’t pesticide free, they are found in lower levels. I recommend that you use this list to make an informed decision about which fruit and vegetables to buy organic only.

There is now an even easier way to remember this information if your and iPhone user. EWG have produced a free iPhone app which you can download and check each time you’re in the Supermarket – Genius!

For more information on the Shoppers Guide and to download the list and the iPhone app click here

Fabulous Nutrition is a London based Nutritional Therapy Clinic, addressing functional imbalance in the body with bespoke nutrition programmes. www.fabulousnutrition.co.uk.

For more information please contact Angela Walker at Fabulous Nutrition on 07775 582 332 or ange@fabulousnutrition.co.uk.