This weeks Topic Of The Week. Sign up for my weekly email updates here ^[1].

The Environmental Working Group just released their 2013 Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce. In it they rate the pesticide levels in common fruits and vegetables. (You may recognize them as the group behind Skin Deep: The Cosmetics Database, which I have posted on my website.
In an ideal world we would all be eating organic fruits and vegetables, however that can be expensive. So EWG came up with the “Clean 15”. This is a list of fruit and vegetables with little or no pesticide residue. Save your money and spend the extra money on other organic produce. Here they are in order with the cleanest produce first:

1. Asparagus
2. Avocados
3. Cabbage
4. Cantaloupe
5. Sweet Corn*
6. Eggplant
7. Grapefruit
8. Kiwi
9. Mango
10. Mushrooms
11. Onions
12. Papaya
13. Pineapples
14. Sweet Peas (frozen)
15. Sweet Potatoes

*Sweet Corn, as a rule, is not genetically modified. Field or flint corn that is used to make tortillas, corn syrup, and chips usually is genetically modified. Since this is a list of produce, and sweet corn is usually not genetically modified, The EWG included it in this list.

To read more go to EWG’s 2013 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ ^[2]

Fifteen Fruits and Vegetable That Don’t Need To Be Organic