The Issue
Chemicals in Food
Foods can contain many harmful substances, including pesticides, unhealthy additives or contaminants. EWG is working to reduce the threat of toxic chemicals in food.
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The Latest on Chemicals in Food
Shot through a legal loophole with the speed of a Major League fastball, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved roughly 11,000 pesticides intended for use in agriculture, inside homes, on lawns, in hand soaps, on clothing and other consumer goods with little or no safety tests, according to a multi-year investigation by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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My slow cooker is battered and dinged, and I love it. Fill it with filtered water and dried beans in the morning, set on low, and by dinnertime, I have a steaming pot of cooked beans. Or load it up with broth and chopped vegetables, and I come home to a beautiful soup for a healthy meal.
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The top environmental health stories of 2012 were all about everyday hazards that are right in our backyards. They have to do with the unintended consequences of chemical pollution that could harm the health of our families, our neighbors, our towns - our nation.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics has taken the unprecedented step of issuing a policy statement that calls on the government, schools, parents and medical professionals to take concerted action to protect children from pesticides.
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Pesticide and chemical companies battling California’s Proposition 37, to require labeling of genetically engineered foods, are telling Californians these genetically engineered foods are perfectly safe and no different from food grown naturally. But at least one corporation is delivering a very different message to corn farmers.
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Although scientists and government regulators have long known about the ever-present threat of arsenic in our diet and water, it was unsettling when two major reports came out on the same day (Sept. 19) reminding us of the risk of arsenic in foods, particularly rice.
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There’s nothing to make you feel like a dope like a bunch of experts telling you you’re wasting your money by buying organic food. And after the recent review of the issue by Stanford University scientists made national headlines – with CBS Newsdeclaring that “organic food is hardly healthier” – I even got tough questions at home about why I’m spending our much-in-demand money on organics.
Read MoreConsumers can markedly reduce their intake of pesticide residues and their exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria by choosing organic produce and meat, according to researchers at Stanford University who reviewed a massive body of scientific studies on the much-debated issue.
Read MoreThe Environmental Working Group has always urged people to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, organic or conventional – and we always will. A diet heavy in produce and light in processed foods, red meat and soda could well help you live a longer, healthier life.
Read MoreWell, as we do each year, EWG released (on June 19) the latest Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce and as we suspected, eaters around the country are still concerned about high levels of toxic pesticide residue on their fruits and veggies.
Read MoreMy kids eat more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches than I'd like to admit. And in my line of work I hear about toxic chemicals daily so it takes a lot to shock me. But, flame retardants in peanut butter? Even I paused when I saw the headline about a recent study that found that flame retardants - that stuff that's slathered on kids' pajamas, sofa foam and upholstery ostensibly to protect us from fires--are showing up in sardines, poultry and yes, even peanut butter.
Read MoreLearn more about the Environmental Working Group's "Shopper's Guide to Pesticide and Produce." EWG's Senior Research Analyst, Sonya Lunder, introduces the 2012 Shopper's Guide and how you can use it to help you determine which fruits and vegetable
Read MoreEWG has released the eighth edition of its Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ with updated information on 45 popular fruits and vegetables and their total pesticide loads. EWG highlights the worst offenders with its new Dirty Dozen Plus™ list and the cleanest conventional produce with its list of the Clean Fifteen™.
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The federal Food and Drug Administration has informed Rep. Edward M. Markey (D-MA) that it is beginning a process that could end the use of the toxic plastics chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, in infant formula packaging.
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In June 1993, the Environmental Working Group released a report titled “Pesticides in Children’s Food.” In the very first line of the forward to that study, EWG President Ken Cook had this advice for parents:
Don’t toss out those fresh strawberries, mom. Don’t dump the lettuce, don’t pitch the tomatoes, don’t throw out the bananas, and don’t pour that apple juice down the kitchen drain.Read More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture began testing fruits and vegetables for pesticide residues in 1991 after the public became concerned about their potential risks to children.
Read MoreKen Cook's keynote talk on organic farming, big agriculture, and the federal farm bill at The Organic Center's 2011 Gala in Anaheim, CA.
Read MoreOnce again, the federal agency charged with protecting the public from tainted food has ignored a mountain of scientific research and decided to allow a toxic chemical to remain in food packaging. The federal Food and Drug Administration announced today it would not take immediate steps to bar Bisphenol-A, or BPA, a synthetic estrogen and plastics component, in canned food and liquid infant formula containers.
Read MoreThe battle over a cancer-causing pesticide often applied to California strawberry fields is over. The maker of the highly toxic methyl iodide has pulled the agriculture pesticide from the American marketplace in the face of mounting opposition from the public, leading scientific and public health experts and farmworkers.
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