Do you know the dirtiest foods? These are the foods that are most subject to the use of pesticides.
For good health, we need vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables, but just some fruits they are among the dirtiest foods when it comes to pesticides. Environmental Working Group (EWG), which studies the use of chemicals in agriculture, updates the "Dirty Dozen" list each year.
It lists (non-organic) fruits and vegetables for the production of which the largest amount of pesticides is used. For this year, EWG used data from more than 46,000 samples of 46 types of fruits and vegetables and investigated 251 different pesticides. And what are the results?
As expected, fruit, which is otherwise considered extra healthy, was among the dirtiest foods this year. These are blueberries. They took the 11th place in the ranking. The scientists detected as many as 54 different types of pesticides in the samples, with nearly 80 % samples showing the presence of two or more types.
This year green beans were added to the Dirty Dozen. Seventy percent of the green bean samples contained two or more pesticides, and in all, more than 84 different types of pesticides were present.
The dirtiest foods according to the results of the "Dirty Dozen" 2023
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Cabbage
- Peaches
- Pears
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Paprika
- Cherries
- Blueberries
- Green beans
What can you do to reduce the pesticides in these foods?
It is important to wash the fruit properly before consumption. First, wash your hands (at least 20 seconds), then trim the damaged areas of the fruit and rub it gently under running water. Then dry it with a towel and wash your hands again before eating.
