How to safely purchase organic & non-organic foods
While it is best to purchase all organic foods, this is sometimes not possible for financial reasons or the lack of availability of organic produce. An independent organization has tested the pesticide residue left after normal washing of produce and found “The Dirty Dozen” fruits and vegetables that had the highest amount of pesticide residue and “The Clean 15” which had the lowest levels of pesticide residues. If you can only buy some food organic, “The Dirty Dozen” should be on the top of your list.
Dirty Dozen: Foods to Buy Organic
- apples
- celery
- strawberries
- peaches
- spinach
- nectarines, imported
- grapes, imported
- sweet bell peppers
- potatoes
- blueberries, domestic
- lettuce
- kale collard greens
Clean 15: Okay to Buy Non-Organic
- onions
- mushrooms
- pineapples
- avocado
- asparagus
- sweet peas
- mangos
- eggplant
- cantaloupe, domestic
- kiwi
- cabbage
- watermelon
- sweet potatoes
- grapefruit
- sweet corn (even though sweet corn shows lowest pesticide residue it is usually genetically modified if not organic, so try to stick with organic corn)