The 'Most Contaminated' Fruits and Vegetables

Chicago Tribune, staff
Published March 15, 2009

Why I buy organic peaches Conventionally-grown peaches topped the Environmental Working Group's updated Shopper's Guide to Pesticides, an annual list of the "most contaminated" fruits and vegetables. Here's what the advocacy group found: * Peaches had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on a single sample-- 87.0 percent had two or more pesticide residues, followed by nectarines (85.3 percent) and apples (82.3 percent). * Peaches and apples had the most pesticides detected on a single sample (9), followed by strawberries and imported grapes (8). * Peaches had the most pesticides overall, with some combination of up to 53 pesticides found on the samples tested, followed by apples (50) and strawberries (38.) Seven of the 12 food with the highest pesticide load were fruits. In addition to peaches, apples, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, imported grapes and pears made the list. Other highlights from the analysis: Fruits with the lowest pesticide residue: Avocados, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, papayas, watermelon and grapefruit. Vegetables with the highest pesticide residue: Sweet bell peppers, celery, kale, lettuce, and carrots. The testers found 64 pesticides on sweet bell peppers. Vegetables with the lowest pesticide residue: Onions, sweet corn, asparagus, sweet peas, cabbage, eggplant, broccoli, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Click here to read this post.