News Coverage
In the ideal position to avoid pesticides
Published February 7, 2007
An apple a day may keep the dentist away, but it may not be the wisest choice if you want to avoid pesticides.
Apples, peaches, pears and even the lowly potato, are among the most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables around, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit research body based in Washington.
The obvious solution, if pesticides are on your bad list, is to buy organic.
However, fresh organic produce is not always available in rural Ontario, especially beyond the natural growing season. And for some, it is simply not affordable, usually costing 25 to 30 per cent more than conventionally grown produce.
A less obvious solution is to focus on buying fruits and veggies that contain only a minimal amount of pesticides.
"If you can't always buy organic, you can still dramatically lower your family's exposure to chemical pesticides by choosing the least pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables," says Jovana Ruzicic, spokeswoman for the Environmental Working Group.
It's unclear whether organic produce is any healthier than conventional grown produce, according to Health Canada. "The scientific evidence cannot support or refute the perception that organic foods are more nutritious than conventional foods and generalizations . . . should be made with caution."
And even Ruzicic concedes that "a contaminated apple is still more healthy than fries and a burger."
But for those concerned about the cumulative effects of pesticides in their diet, the EWG study provides food for thought.
The group studied pesticide levels in 43 common fruits and vegetables, based on data from close to 43,000 samples collected over four years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
It then highlighted the "dirty dozen" or most contaminated, and the "consistently clean" or least contaminated in a wallet-sized shopper's guide to fresh produce.
The dirty dozen: More than 90 per cent of all the peaches, apples, celery, nectarines, strawberries and cherries tested positive for pesticides, although in minute amounts. Sweet bell peppers, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes also scored poorly.
The consistently clean: Onions, avocados and sweet corn passed the test with flying colours - more than 90 per cent of the samples tested had no detectable pesticide residues. Pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli and papaya also made the grade.
The Canadian government carries out similar tests on fresh produce, but only measures pesticide residues greater than .05 parts per million, to ensure the produce complies with regulations, said Rene Cardinal, acting manager of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's fresh fruit and vegetable program.
The Food and Drug Administration sets a lower level of detection, so commodities tested in the U.S. will appear, on the face of it, to be more contaminated than those tested here, Cardinal said. "The reason is because they're testing for research and we're doing it for compliance."
But the "dirty dozen" list in Canada is probably similar to that in the U.S., Cardinal said.
Looking at the Canadian test results for 2004-2005, for example, strawberries, potatoes, apples, cherries, grapes and nectarines were among the worst offenders.
Peas, onions, melons, eggplant, asparagus, beets, corn and pumpkin were exceptionally clean.
Surprisingly, some imported fruits and vegetables have fewer pesticides than those grown in North America, Cardinal said. That's because they're grown specifically for export and tested for residual pesticides before they're shipped. Mexico, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa have good records on exported produce, he said.
An apple from Chile, for example, likely has fewer pesticides than one grown in Canada or the United States. "But if you go to Chile, the apples on the domestic market could be very different," he stressed.
The Environmental Working Group's shopper's guide can help consumers prioritize their organic purchases without breaking the bank.
Why bother paying a premium for organic bananas, broccoli and avocados, for example, knowing their conventionally grown counterparts are relatively free of pesticides? Splurge instead on organic versions of favourite foods that happen to be in the "dirty dozen" list.
And where organic produce isn't available, or isn't an option, shoppers can use the list to choose foods that are less contaminated.
A family that enjoys fresh salads several nights a week, for example, can take a pass on the usual lettuce and red peppers one night and make a coleslaw out of cabbage and carrots instead. Broccoli, cauliflower, winter squash and tomatoes are other vegetables relatively low in pesticides.
Likewise, a family that craves peaches might substitute mangos, melons or papaya.
Kathryn Forsyth, a public health dietitian in Owen Sound, says that eating locally grown food is the best option of all. And if that means cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, beets and leeks in the winter, rather than asparagus from Peru, sweet peppers from Mexico and cucumbers grown in Honduras (all on offer at her local grocery store), then so be it.
"As Canadians, and especially as rural residents, we need to get back to eating tubular vegetables and maybe not the huge variety that we're used to eating year-round," she says.
The best option is "to build a relationship with your local farmer and attend farmer's markets. A face-to-face relationship is more important than whether the food is organic or not," she says, noting that organic food can carry parasites and breed disease.
Laura Telford, executive director of Canadian Organic Growers, says avoiding the dirty dozen is "a useful starting point" for consumers who can't obtain organics year-round. But in her opinion, organics are always preferable, and the best and cheapest way to get them is from a farmer.
People in rural Ontario have the unique advantage of being closer to the source of fresh organic foods, she adds.
She doesn't buy the argument, however, that it's always better to buy local, for local food that's not organic can still be full of pesticides.
Choosing organic foods is ultimately a "philosophical" issue, in Forsyth's opinion. "It's fine if you want to do it, but it's not how everyone needs to eat." And she resents how it "plays on the guilt thing" with consumers.
By their very nature, however, pesticides are toxic, and infants and children are more susceptible to their effects than adults.
Washing fresh produce with running water helps, but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling also reduces exposure, but peels away nutrients in the process.
"The safe guidelines (regarding pesticides in produce) were made for adults," Ruzicic says. "There's so much we don't know, and until there's more research and we know they're safe, it's best to avoid them."
Steering clear of the most contaminated fruits and vegetables and sticking with the "consistently clean" can reduce your pesticide exposure by almost 90 per cent, she says.
A wallet-sized Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce can be downloaded at www.foodnews.org
