Apples are once again at the top spot of the Environmental Working Group’s 2014 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. This makes the fourth year in a row that conventional apples were declared the dirtiest fruit or vegetable based on their pesticide load. Last week, the EWG released an apple report that revealed that the most common pesticide found on conventional apples in the U.S. (diphenylamine, known as DPA) is banned in the EU due to health concerns.
Here’s the entire list of the Dirty Dozen, the 12 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables found to have the highest pesticide load.
- Sweet bell peppers
- Nectarines – imported
- Cherry tomatoes
- Snap peas – imported
How can shoppers use this list to help them make choices when buying produce? By understanding which fruits and vegetables have a higher pesticide load, consumers can choose which produce to buy organic or from farmers they trust to farm with as few chemicals as possible. If they don’t have the extra money in their budget to buy organic produce, they can opt to choose the conventional produce items at the bottom of the list, known as the Clean Fifteen. Here are the items on that list.
- Sweet potatoes
- Sweet peas – frozen
- Sweet corn
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