Fruits and Vegetables areMost Likely to be Contaminated by Pesticides

On the Surface

Here's a list you'll want to keep handy. The following fruits and vegetables are the most likely to be contaminated by pesticides, according to research conducted by the USDA and FDA. They are:

• Apples
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Grapes (imported)
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Potatoes
• Red Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries

This "Dirty Dozen" is an eye-opener into the amount of chemicals used by growers to make our produce look glossy, last longer, or ripen during the long journey from farm to supermarket shelf. A recent USDA study found that 73 percent of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables contained at least one pesticide residue, and likely contained multiple residues. An environmental watchdog group determined that strawberries are the single most heavily contaminated produce item.

What is most unsettling (as if this weren't enough) is that when determining the amount of chemical residue in our foods, researchers washed them first, so residue levels are approximately the same as you would have after you prepared the foods at home.

Organic foods fared better but still were not entirely safe from chemical residues. (Imported foods were the worst, with imports being three times as likely as domestic products to contain illegal pesticide residues.) Organic foods were far less likely to contain residue from multiple chemicals, and researchers found that organically gown produce typically contained pesticide residues only 1/3 as often as those conventionally grown. They attributed this to soil contamination and over-spray or drifting of chemicals from nearby fields.

Here's the list of the produce that had the lowest levels of pesticides when tested:

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Corn (sweet)
• Kiwi
• Mangos
• Onions
• Papaya
• Pineapples
• Peas (sweet)

But no matter what you're putting in your shopping cart, it's always a good idea to wash your produce. A quick splash under the faucet won't do it, though: Look for a produce wash that uses natural substances called surfactants that will attach to oils (many pesticides are derived from petrochemicals) so that they can be rinsed away.

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What is...a surfactant?

Surfactants are water-soluble surface-active agents that attach to oils. As a component of a produce wash, surfactants can draw pesticide residues and coatings into the solution so that they can be washed away.

Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Editorial Director
Nutrition & Healing