12 Foods You Should Buy Organic
EWG's 2017 shopper’s guide to pesticides are exposing “the dirty dozen” fruit and vegetables you should avoid buying inorganic, and the clean fifteen which is considered to contain fewer pesticides - a healthier option if you're buying inorganic produce.
Not all fruits and vegetables are equal when it comes to pesticides, the EWG reported.
Some produce like avocados, corn and mangoes have peels or husk that shield the foods flesh from pesticides.
Nevertheless, it’s also important to remember that pesticide use will vary locally, but generally, its wise to stay away from the dirty dozen when buying non-organic as they are typically heavily sprayed.
Key findings:
- More than 98 percent of samples of strawberries, spinach, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apples tested positive for residue of at least one pesticide.
- A single sample of strawberries showed 20 different pesticides.
- Spinach samples had, on average, twice as much pesticide residue by weight than any other crop.
- Avocados and sweet corn were the cleanest: only 1 percent of samples showed any detectable pesticides.
- More than 80 percent of pineapples, papayas, asparagus, onions, and cabbage had no pesticide residues.
- No single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen tested positive for more than four types of pesticides.
- Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on Clean Fifteen vegetables. Only 5 percent of Clean Fifteen vegetable samples had two or more pesticides.
Buying organic can be expensive, so this list gives us the ground on where we should prioritize if we aren't able to buy entirely organic produce.
The dirty dozen are:
Strawberries
Spinach
Nectarines
Apples
Peaches
Pears
Cherries
Grapes
Celery
Tomatoes
Sweet bell pepper
Potatoes
The clean fifteen:
Sweet corn
Avocadoes
Pineapples
Cabbage
Onions
frozen sweet peas
Papayas
Asparagus
Mangoes
Eggplant
Honeydew Melon
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Cauliflower
Grapefruit
To see the full list of tested fruit and vegetables with pesticide residue data click here
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Truly grateful for any support, stay healthy and be well!
Do you buy any of your food organic?
amazing list! thanks for sharing!! i didnt know spinach was soo bad!!!
Good post.
I have to say I am shocked, but not really surprised. We re dousing crops in these things. In my house we buy organic whenever possible. Good informative post man.