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When you’re grocery shopping, it’s easy to read labels and pick foods that help you reduce cholesterol and saturated fat, avoid antibiotics or artificial coloring, flavors and sweeteners. But when it comes to pesticides on produce, consumers have been left in the dark.
The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides lists the 12 popular fresh fruits and vegetables that are consistently the most contaminated with pesticides and those 15 fruits and vegetables that consistently have low levels of pesticides. If you are concerned about pesticides in your diet, this handy wallet card can help you choose produce that lowers exposure to pesticides for you and your family.
For the most contaminated items, we suggest substituting organically grown produce whenever possible. When this is not an option, we still recommend eating lots of fruits and vegetables but use this guide to buy those that typically have fewer pesticides.
Download the full version of the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides now.
Why Should You Care About Pesticides
TThe growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.
What's the Difference?
EWG research has found that people who eat the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2 pesticides daily. The Guide helps consumers make informed choices to lower their dietary pesticide load.
Will Washing and Peeling Help?
Nearly all the studies used to create these lists assume that people rinse or peel fresh produce. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all produce and buy organic when possible.
How Was This Guide Developed?
NEWG analysts have developed the Guide based on data from nearly 87,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2007 and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can find a detailed description of the criteria EWG used to develop these rankings and the complete list of fruits and veegtables tested at www.foodnews.org.
To learn more
To learn more about pesticides
To learn more about Stonyfield Farm's environmental mission go to http://www.stonyfield.com/AboutUs/CompanyProfile.cfm
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