Pesticide Residue Found on High Percentage of Fruits & Veggies
Pick four fruits and vegetables at random. Picture them in your local grocery store produce section. What percentage do you think would test positive for pesticides? If you said 50%, you’re only two-thirds of the way there.
Try 75% of non-organic fruits and vegetables in U.S. grocery stores. That’s how many tested positive for pesticide residues. According to a report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Even after a washing, many samples still contained pesticide traces. Including some linked to health issues.
The fruits and veggies included produce many Americans eat daily. Including strawberries, spinach, grapes, and apples.
Strawberries Claim the Dubious Top Spot
The EWG analyzed 46 different fruits and vegetables for its study. Twelve of them made their “Dirty Dozen” list.
Strawberries led the way for most pesticides. The average American eats about eight pounds of fresh strawberries per year. Unfortunately, that means they’re also eating chemicals.
Spinach follows strawberries. Which contained both nutrients and banned pesticides. More than one-half of kale, collard, and mustard greens had pesticides. Grapes, peaches, and pears were fourth, fifth, and sixth on the list.
Next came nectarines; apples; bell and hot peppers; cherries; blueberries; and green beans.
Problem Shows No Signs of Letting Up
Many fruit and vegetable samples tested positive for pesticides. And 90% had residues of two or more contaminants. Discovered were 209 different pesticides among 46 samples.
The previous study of this type came in 2016. But it’s clear the situation has not improved much since then.
Nine years ago, things were bad. Almost every strawberry sample had detectable residues of a pesticide. About three in 10 samples had residues of 10 or more pesticides.
One strawberry sample had residues of 23 different pesticides and breakdown products. Including 82 different pesticides.
Spinach Weighs in as Problematic
Measured by weight, spinach is No. 1 in detectable pesticide residues.
Three-fourths of the spinach samples had pesticide residues, according to the EWG study. The bulk of the contaminates were three fungicides and one insecticide.
A banned pesticide tainted more than one-half of the kale samples. This is a common problem with leafy greens.
One kale sample had 21different pesticides on it. And more than 85% of the samples had detectable levels of many pesticide residues.
Peaches + Pears = Pesticides
How about non-organic peaches? Pesticide contamination affected 99% of them.
Among the 900 peach samples, about two-thirds had residues of four or more pesticides. Discovered were 59 different pesticides. One sample had traces of up to 19 different pesticides.
Pears did not fare much better in this “competition.” Ninety-five percent of the samples had at least one pesticide.
More than 60% of pear samples had residues of five or more pesticides. Seventy percent had four or more. Pear samples featured 64 different pesticides
‘Clean Fifteen’ Comes to the Rescue
Believe it or not, there was some good news that came out of the EWG study. The “Clean Fifteen” list featured the lowest pesticide residue amounts.
Here’s how they ranked:
15-Carrots
14-Watermelon
13-Sweet potatoes
12-Mangoes
11-Mushrooms
10-Cabbage
9-Kiwi
8-Honeydew melon
7-Asparagus
6-Sweet peas (frozen)
5-Papaya, 4-Onions. 3-Pineapple, 2-Sweet corn
And the No. 1 cleanest fruit or veggie (drum roll please)… Avocados.
Shop for Cared-for Fruit & Veggies
Some items on the Clean Fifteen list had zero detectable pesticides. Including about two-thirds of the fruits and vegetables.
Some had no more than three pesticides. Like avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, onions, papaya, and frozen sweet peas.
A few Clean Fifteen samples contained two or more pesticides. But only 10%.
Less than 2% of avocado and sweet corn showed any detectable pesticides. Explaining why they were 1-2 on the Clean Fifteen list.
Fruits and vegetables are among the healthiest foods we can eat. But it would behoove us to be careful while shopping for them.
Tried. Tested. True.
References:
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