The Environmental Working Group tested dozens of fruits and vegetables to determine which foods are the worst offenders in terms of pesticide exposure. Some fruits and vegetables grown with conventional farming methods simply don’t absorb the pesticides. Some examples of vegetables and fruits with very low pesticide residues are onions, mangoes, asparagus, broccoli and eggplant. So whether you pick them up from the regular produce section or the organic aisle, your pesticide exposure is going to be low.
So if you are on a budget, focus your organic dollars where it counts — on foods that suck in a lot of pesticides when grown using conventional farming methods. Foods that typically have high levels of pesticide residue include peaches, strawberries, sweet bell peppers, celery and lettuce.
Environmental Working Group Fruit & Veggie Pesticide Guide
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)
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