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Grocery Shopping

Clean 15

 If you need to buy non-organic, then focus on buying the Clean 15 foods. However, do your best to buy organic and non-GMO whenever possible. Nearly all of the data collected took into account how people typically wash and prepare produce - for example, apples were washed and bananas peeled before testing. Of the fruit and vegetable categories tested, the following "Clean 15" foods had the lowest pesticide load, and consequently are the safest conventionally grown crops to consume from the standpoint of pesticide contamination:

 

  • Avocados

  • Sweet corn

  • Pineapples

  • Cabbage

  • Sweet peas (frozen)

  • Onions

  • Asparagus

  • Mangos

  • Papayas

  • Kiwi

  • Eggplant

  • Grapefruit

  • Cantaloupe (domestic)

  • Cauliflower

  • Sweet potatoes

Dirty Dozen Plus

 Nearly all of the data collected took into account how people typically wash and prepare produce - for example, apples were washed and bananas peeled before testing. The following "Dirty Dozen Plus" had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy organic  - or to grow them organically yourself:

 

  • Apples

  • Strawberries

  • Grapes

  • Celery

  • Peaches

  • Spinach

  • Sweet bell peppers

  • Nectarines (imported)

  • Cucumbers

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • Snap peas (imported)

  • Potatoes

 

 Plus these often contain organophosphate insecticides, which is "highly toxic":

  • Hot peppers

  • Blueberries (domestic)

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