Which foods have the most pesticides? EWG releases a list

Wash your apples. But even that may not be enough.

That's what I take from this year's shopper's guide to pesticides in produce, released by the Environmental Working Group. It looks at pesticide loads on 53 fruits and vegetables.

Apples have climbed to the No. 1 spot on the national nonprofit's "dirty dozen" list, compiled after synthesizing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Apples jumped three spots from last year's ranking to replace celery at the top of the list. According to USDA, pesticides showed up on 98 percent of the more than 700 apple samples tested. They are joined at the top of the list by celery and strawberries.

Appearing for the first time on the dirty list is the herb cilantro, which EWG says had never been tested by USDA until now. The agency's data showed 33 unapproved pesticides on 44 percent of the cilantro samples tested. The Environmental Working Group says this is "the highest percentage of unapproved pesticides recorded on any item included in the guide since EWG started tracking the data in 1995."

The good news is that EWG also issues a "Clean 15" list, showing fruits and vegetables least likely to contain pesticides. This year, mushrooms made the list, and honeydew dropped off. AT the top of the list are onions, corn and pineapple.

You can get the full guide at their website.

"Though buying organic is always the best choice, we know that sometimes people do not have access to that produce or cannot afford it," said EWG President Ken Cook in a press release. "Our guide helps consumers concerned about pesticides to make better choices among conventional produce, and lets them know which fruits and vegetables they may want to buy organic."

More from the press release:

Consumers who choose five servings of fruits and vegetables a day from EWG's Clean 15 list rather than from the Dirty Dozen can lower the volume of pesticides they consume by 92 percent, according to EWG's calculations. They will also eat fewer types of pesticides. Picking five servings of fruits and vegetables from the 12 most-contaminated products would result in consuming an average of 14 different pesticides a day. Choosing five servings from the 15 least contaminated fruits and vegetables would result in consuming fewer than two pesticides per day.

The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure, and EWG strongly recommends that everyone follow USDA's recommendation to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. EWG's Shopper's Guide makes it easy to meet that goal while reducing your exposure to pesticides.