Dirty Dozen - Foods to Watch According to EWG

The EWG's (Environmental Working Group) Shoppers Guide was developed to help consumers make informed choices to lower their dietary pesticide load. They released their new "Dirty Dozen" fruits and vegetables on June 1, 2010.

The complete "Dirty Dozen" list includes: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, kale, cherries, potatoes and imported grapes. To decrease exposure to pesticides, these are the fruits and vegetables recommended by the EWG, that consumers should buy organic when possible. According to the EWG, "Consumers can lower their pesticide consumption by nearly four-fifths by avoiding conventionally grown varieties of the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables."

Through their research the EWG has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day.

Those who eat from the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2 pesticides daily.

EWG analysts have developed the Guide based on data from nearly 96,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2008 and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

EWG is a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, DC that uses the power of information to protect human health and the environment. Find out more about the EWG at their websites, EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides and EWG (Environmental Working Group) Home.

Source: EWG's Shoppers Guide. 2010.