In a perfect world, this list would not exist; our fruits and vegetables would simply be returned to their primary function, that of feeding us and acting for many of them like medicines offered by Mother Nature. But eating healthy has, as we know, become a daily challenge; the reason for the pesticides with which our fruits and vegetables are stuffed. An alarming observation that we have all been making for years. Clear-sighted on the subject, we are reduced to a life of consumers hoping to poison themselves as little as possible.
Pesticides:here are the most contaminated vegetables and fruits!
Also, to reinforce our vigilance on the subject, since 2004, the NGO The Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes, each March, a guide indicating the levels of pesticides on non-organic fruits and vegetables; which having been, before passing the tests, washed, peeled or rubbed. The institution which, to do this, relies on the reports of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); who therefore screened the pesticide content of more than 38,800 foods, to spread the Dirty Dozen and sound during the Clean Fifteen.
Thus we learn:
- that nearly 70% of non-organic fresh produce sold in the United States contains potentially harmful chemical pesticide residues, according to the EWG analysis.
- that more than 90% of samples of strawberries, apples, cherries, spinach, nectarines and leafy greens tested positive for residues of at least two pesticides.
- A single sample of kale, collard greens and mustard contains up to 20 different pesticides.
- than imazalil, a fungicide that can alter hormone levels, classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen, was detected in nearly 90% of citrus samples tested by EWG in 2020, and over 95% of tangerine samples tested by USDA in 2019.
- after being tested for the first time since 2012 and 2011, respectively, bell peppers and hot peppers fall under this blacklist. Both still contain concerning levels of acephate and chlorpyrifos – organophosphate insecticides that can harm children's brain development and are banned for use on some crops in the US and entirely in the EU.
- In addition, the most contaminated fresh produce, such as spinach, strawberries, and other Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables, still contain high levels of pesticides in their frozen form.
Pesticides:which vegetables and fruits are the least contaminated?
In addition to listing the fruits and vegetables most polluted by pesticides, the EWG also unveiled listed the safest non-organic products . A list called the "Clean Fifteen", about fifteen foods are in the association's ranking:
- Lawyers
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapple
- Onions
- Papaya
- Peas (frozen)
- Eggplant
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Cabbages
- The kiwi
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Honeydew
- Cantaloupe
