Pesticide Alert: Your Guide to Shopping the Produce Aisle

We understand the produce-section struggle: Should you shell out the big bucks for organic carrots or can you stick with the “regular” ones? Each year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) hopes to help answer this question by releasing its annual shopper’s guide of produce with the most and least pesticide residue. If a fruit or veggie appears on their “Dirty Dozen” list, you should opt for the organic version.

This year, apples were the worst offender — 99% of those tested were contaminated with at least one type of pesticide, so the EWG suggests purchasing only organic apples. The 11 other fruits and veggies you should buy organic this year are:

• Strawberries
• Grapes
• Celery
• Peaches
• Spinach
• Sweet bell peppers
• Imported nectarines
• Cucumbers
• Cherry tomatoes
• Imported snap peas
• Potatoes

The EWG also released a list of approved produce (the “Clean Fifteen”), which are fruits and vegetables least likely to be contaminated with hazardous pesticides:

• Avocados
• Sweet corn
• Pineapples
• Cabbage
• Frozen sweet peas
• Onions
• Asparagus
• Mangoes
• Papayas
• Kiwi
• Eggplant
• Grapefruit
• Cantaloupe
• Cauliflower
• Sweet potatoes

Meaning you can purchase regular, non-organic avocados. Phew!