Smart Produce Shopping — Look for the Clean 15 & Avoid the Dirty Dozen

Smart Produce Shopping — Look for the Clean 15 & Avoid the Dirty Dozen

The Environmental Working Group has released its annual Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists of fresh produce items that consumers should avoid and seek, based on pesticide residue levels. The EWG compiles its annual list by analyzing U.S. Department of Agriculture data “to identify which fresh fruits and vegetables are most and least contaminated with pesticide residues.”

This year, collard and mustard greens join kale on the dirty list, as well as bell peppers and hot peppers for the first time. And although no citrus item makes the dozen, EWG notes that more than 90 percent of citrus fruits had toxic pesticides on them when tested.

“This year, the USDA’s tests found residues of potentially harmful chemical pesticides on nearly 70 percent of the non-organic fresh produce sold in the U.S.,” EWG said in a press release. “Before testing fruits and vegetables, the USDA washes, scrubs and peels them, as consumers would.”

EWG toxicologist Thomas Galligan, Ph.D, said, “We urge consumers who are concerned about their pesticide intake to consider, when possible, purchasing organically grown versions of the foods on EWG’s Dirty Dozen, or conventional produce from our Clean Fifteen.”

Here are the 2021 Dirty Dozen:

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale/Collard/Mustard greens
4. Nectarines
5. Apples
6. Grapes
7. Cherries
8. Peaches
9. Pears
10. Bell and hot peppers
11. Celery
12. Tomatoes

Here are the items on the Clean 15:

1. Avocados
2. Sweet Corn
3. Pineapples
4. Onions
5. Papayas
6. Frozen sweet peas
7. Eggplant
8. Asparagus
9. Broccoli
10. Cabbage
11. Kiwifruit
12. Cauliflower
13. Mushrooms
14. Honeydew
15. Cantaloupe