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Be A Smarter Produce Picker — Get Our Free Guide!
EWG always recommends buying organic, but we know you can't always find it. Our new Guide — now in its 5th edition — features the 12 fruits and veggies with the most and least pesticides so you'll know which ones to buy organic, and which conventionally-grown ones are okay when organic isn't available. Enter your email address below and we will give you a link to download your printer-friendly PDF version of the guide.
Why Should You Care About Pesticides?
There is growing consensus in the scientific community that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can adversely affect people, especially during vulnerable periods of fetal development and childhood when exposures can have long lasting effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood, or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers are wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible.
Will Washing and Peeling Help?
Nearly all of the data used to create these lists already considers how people typically wash and prepare produce (for example, apples are washed before testing, bananas are peeled). While washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.
How This Guide Was Developed
The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2005. A detailed description of the
criteria used in developing the rankings
is available as well as a full list of fresh fruits and vegetables that have been tested (see below).
EWG is a not-for-profit environmental research organization dedicated to improving public health and protecting the environment by reducing pollution in air, water and food. For more information please visit
www.ewg.org.
The Full List: 43 Fruits & Veggies
|
RANK
|
FRUIT OR VEGGIE
|
SCORE
|
|
1 (worst)
|
Peaches
|
100 (highest pesticide load)
|
|
2
|
Apples
|
96
|
|
3
|
Sweet Bell Peppers
|
86
|
|
4
|
Celery
|
85
|
|
5
|
Nectarines
|
84
|
|
6
|
Strawberries
|
83
|
|
7
|
Cherries
|
75
|
|
8
|
Lettuce
|
69
|
|
9
|
Grapes - Imported
|
68
|
|
10
|
Pears
|
65
|
|
11
|
Spinach
|
60
|
|
12
|
Potatoes
|
58
|
|
13
|
Carrots
|
57
|
|
14
|
Green Beans
|
55
|
|
15
|
Hot Peppers
|
53
|
|
16
|
Cucumbers
|
52
|
|
17
|
Raspberries
|
47
|
|
18
|
Plums
|
46
|
|
19
|
Oranges
|
46
|
|
20
|
Grapes-Domestic
|
46
|
|
21
|
Cauliflower
|
39
|
|
22
|
Tangerine
|
38
|
|
23
|
Mushrooms
|
37
|
|
24
|
Cantaloupe
|
34
|
|
25
|
Lemon
|
31
|
|
26
|
Honeydew Melon
|
31
|
|
27
|
Grapefruit
|
31
|
|
28
|
Winter Squash
|
31
|
|
29
|
Tomatoes
|
30
|
|
30
|
Sweet Potatoes
|
30
|
|
31
|
Watermelon
|
25
|
|
32
|
Blueberries
|
24
|
|
33
|
Papaya
|
21
|
|
34
|
Eggplant
|
19
|
|
35
|
Broccoli
|
18
|
|
36
|
Cabbage
|
17
|
|
37
|
Bananas
|
16
|
|
38
|
Kiwi
|
14
|
|
39
|
Asparagus
|
11
|
|
40
|
Sweet Peas-Frozen
|
11
|
|
41
|
Mango
|
9
|
|
42
|
Pineapples
|
7
|
|
43
|
Sweet Corn-Frozen
|
2
|
|
44
|
Avocado
|
1
|
|
45 (best)
|
Onions
|
1 (lowest pesticide load)
|
Note: We ranked a total of 44 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.
View Full Data Set
Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce by
Environmental Working Group is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
