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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Conventional Fruit and Vegetable Pesticide Loads

Certainly helpful to your decision about which vegetables should be purchased organic and which conventional veggies may be safe, is the measured pesticide loads found on conventionally farmed fruits and vegetables.

    Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories tested by the Environmental Working Group and included in their Shoppers' Guide to Pesticides in Produce, these 12 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organic:

        Peaches
        Apples
        Sweet bell peppers
        Celery
        Nectarines
        Strawberries
        Cherries
        Lettuce
        Grapes (imported)
        Pears
        Spinach
        Potatoes

    In contrast, these foods were found to have the lowest residual pesticide load, making them the safest bet among conventionally grown vegetables:

        Broccoli
        Eggplant
        Cabbage
        Banana
        Kiwi
        Asparagus
        Sweet peas (frozen)
        Mango
        Pineapple
        Sweet corn (frozen)
        Avocado
        Onion

    So if you need to work within a certain budget, use this information to help guide you to the best choices when it comes to lowering your overall pesticide exposure.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/29/recommended-vegetable-list.aspx