Eating organic is great way to care for your health, but it can undoubtedly take a toll on your wallet. For that reason, it can be hard to go all-in. The good news is, you don’t have to. Knowing what foods are the most and least contaminated with pesticides can be a great help in deciding what foods to buy organic vs. conventional.
Each year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) comes out with an updated version of The Clean Fifteen and The Dirty Dozen. The Dirty Dozen are the foods in produce that are most contaminated with pesticides – these are the ones you want to buy organic when you can. The Clean Fifteen are the foods in produce that are least contaminated with pesticides – these are the ones you may want to buy conventional.
To determine the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen, thousands of samples of produce are tested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. It’s important to note that the samples are tested after they have been washed and, when applicable, peeled. You can’t wash or peel away the problem of pesticides!
Here are the 2020 Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen
THE DIRTY DOZEN – The foods in produce with the most amount of pesticide residue
*Buy these 12 foods organic when possible*
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Cherries
- Pears
- Tomatoes
- Celery
- Potatoes
THE CLEAN FIFTEEN – The foods in produce with the least amount of pesticide residue
*Don’t stress on buying these foods organic… these ones are on the cleaner side*
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn*
- Pineapple
- Onions
- Papaya*
- Sweet Peas Frozen
- Eggplant
- Asparagus
- Cauliflower
- Cantaloup
- Broccoli
- Mushrooms
- Cabbage
- Honeydew Mellon
- Kiwi
*Sweet corn and papayas are on the clean fifteen list, however, some sold in the United States are produced from genetically modified seeds. So, while they may not be contaminated by pesticides, they may contain GMOs. The Environmental Working Group suggests buying organic if you want to avoid GMOs!
Sources:
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/clean-fifteen
https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary