The “Dirty Dozen” Fruits and Vegetables With The Most Pesticide Contamination

I imagine if asked, you’d probably tell us that you don’t want to eat fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed by pesticides. Sound right? It makes sense; we don’t either. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group keeps track of which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide contamination, and inversely which have the least.

If you can swing it, organic produce is the way to go, and the bottom line is that people need to eat more fruits and vegetables, even if they are contaminated with pesticides. For the full picture, check out their 2014 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides.

And now, the “Dirty Dozen Plus”:

1. Apples
2. Strawberries
3. Grapes
4. Celery
5. Peaches
6. Spinach
7. Sweet bell peppers
8. Nectarines (imported)
9. Cucumbers
10. Cherry tomatoes
11. Snap peas (imported)
12. Potatoes

The “Dirty Dozen Plus” includes:

1. Hot peppers
2. Kale/collard greens

And the fruits and veggies with the least pesticides (the “Clean Fifteen”) are:

1. Avocados
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapples
4. Cabbage
5. Sweet peas (frozen)
6. Onions
7. Asparagus
8. Mangos
9. Papayas
10. Kiwi
11. Eggplant
12. Grapefruit
13. Cantaloupe
14. Cauliflower
15. Sweet potatoes

Image credit: heather_on3, Flickr