The Dirty Dozen is your key to effectively shopping for and consuming the best fruits and vegetables available.

While, we believe that everyone should eat 100% organic, knowing which fruits and vegetables are “dirty” is key for those who cannot transition completely. The Environmental Working Group has compiled the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides for this exact reason. The guide outlines which fruits and vegetables contain the highest and lowest pesticide residues. These two lists, the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15™ allow you to shop with confidence, knowing that you are feeding yourself and your family the best possible produce.

How Should You Use The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 Lists?

1. Lower or eliminate consumption of Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables while increasing consumption of those in the Clean 15
2. Continue purchasing conventional fruits and vegetables from the Clean 15 list, but only buy organic items from the Dirty Dozen list.

Why Should You Care About Pesticides?

FoodMatters.tv says it best: “The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. EWG research has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the (Clean) 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2 pesticides daily.”

Will Washing and Peeling Help?

The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides was created by testing fruits and vegetables based on how they are typically consumed. Therefore you can bet that these numbers are for all intensive purposes accurate. Washing and peeling have not been found to eliminate pesticides anyway.

How Was This Guide Developed?

The Environmental Working Group utilized USDA data from just under 89,000 tests conducted between 2000 and 2008.

Download the Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce!

photo by celesteh