The Dirty Dozen

WHAT’S NEW, WHAT’S NOT, WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

A French study of 69,000 people, published in December 2019 in the Journal of the American

Medical Association, found that study participants who ate the most organic food had 25 percent fewer cancers than those who did not eat organic food. A 2018 Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health study on environment and reproductive health uncovered an unexpected link between fertility problems and the consumption of foods high in pesticide residues.

These and other studies raise serious questions about the safety of the pesticide residues found on fruits and vegetables, and suggest that people should choose produce with the least contamination. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a recent study evaluating the impact of an organic diet, published in the journal Environmental Research, “found that after only six days of eating organic food, adults and children had on average a 60 percent reduction in the levels of synthetic pesticides measured in their urine, compared to when they were eating a conventional diet.”

While evidence is accumulating that organic produce is generally healthier than conventionally grown fruit and vegetables, EWG recognizes that some pesticides are more dangerous than others, that some crops absorb more of the potentially toxic chemicals than others and that not everyone can afford to buy only organically grown food. That’s why the organization created its “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in

The DIRTY DOZEN

Strawberries Spinach

Kale Nectarines Apples Grapes Peaches Cherries Pears Tomatoes Celery Potatoes Produce” in 2004 and updates its ranking of pesticide contamination in 47 popular fruits and vegetables every year.

“The Dirty Dozen” is a list of foods that contain the highest concentrations of multiple pesticide residues, based on an analysis of more than 40,000 samples tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. While the usual suspects — strawberries, spinach, apples, grapes and stone fruits — appear on the list year after year, kale made its first appearance this year as no. 3 on the list. “Multiple samples of kale showed 18 different pesticides,” EWG reports, with “nearly 60 percent of kale samples sold in the U.S. contaminated with the residues of a pesticide the Environmental Protection Agency considers a possible human carcinogen.”

The lesson here: If you are eating kale for its reputed health benefits, you may want to consider buying organic.

The CLEAN FIFTEEN

EWG uses the same government test data to produce “The Clean Fifteen,” its annual list of the fruits and vegetables that carry few detectable pesticide residues. There is little risk associated with consuming conventionally grown produce on this list. Sweet corn is one of the least contaminated crops grown in the U.S., but if you want to avoid genetically modified crops, EWG suggests that you look for organically grown sweet corn and papayas. Avocados

Sweet corn Pineapples

Frozen sweet peas Onions

Papayas

Eggplants Asparagus

Kiwis

Cabbages Cauliflower Cantaloupes Broccoli Mushrooms Honeydew melons For more detailed information about the specific findings for produce listed on The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen, visit ewg.org.