Poison Fruit - for your family

You know organic is better - but it costs more, sometimes it's really hard to find, and - what's the difference anyway? A visit to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) web site (link below) provides lots of useful information, but the best I found was a pocket guide for the grocery store.

In the guide, the Washington, DC-based EWG lists the 12 fruits and veggies that have the most and least pesticides on them. A wallet- sized card listing best and worst choices is even available for free download. That way, when you’re at the grocery store, you’ll know which conventionally grown items you can feel better about taking home and which ones you should avoid altogether.

The guide is based on results of nearly 43,000 tests the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration conducted between 2000 and 2004 for pesticides on produce.

Consider this scary fact: Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to an average of about 15 pesticides a day, according to the EWG.

It gets worse: Almost 97 percent of peaches tested positive for pesticides, and almost 87 percent had residues of two or more pesticides. About 92 percent of apples tested positive, and 79 percent had residues of two or more pesticides.

Besides peaches and apples, other items on the dangerous end of the list are sweet bell peppers, celery, strawberries, pears, grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes!

Safer veggies to buy (from best to not as good): Onions, avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and papaya.


Here's the link for The Environmental Working Group website