I discovered this list a few months back and found it very helpful to refer to when shopping for various fresh produce at the Supermarket:
The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and choosing the least contaminated produce.
Genetically modified plants, or GMOs, are not often found in the produce section of grocery stores. Field corn, nearly all of which is produced with genetically modified seeds, is used to make tortillas, chips, corn syrup, animal feed and biofuels. Because it is not sold as a fresh vegetable, it is not included in EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Nor is soy, another heavily GMO crop that makes its way into processed food.
The Dirty Dozen include:
Apples
Celery
Cherry Tomates
Cucumbers
Grapes
Hot Peppers
Imported Nectarines
Peaches
Potatoes
Spinach
Strawberries
Sweet Bell Peppers
Kale
Summer squash – Cougettes
Then you have the Clean Fifteen, which include:
Asparagus
Avocados
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Sweet Corn
Aubergine
Grapefruit
Kiwi
Mangoes
Mushrooms
Onions
Papayas
Pineapples
Sweet peas – frozen
Sweet Potatoes
Overall if you are going to consume any products on the Dirty Dozen list it is best to purchase the organically-grown versions of these items.
For more information on EWG visit: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php
