The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released their Dirty Dozen™ for 2013 on Monday. The list outs the most pesticide-contaminated produce. This year, apples topped the list, followed by celery and cherry tomatoes. Although washing produce thoroughly can help reduce the pesticide residue, I would still recommend choosing organic, especially for top 10 to 20 fruits and vegetables on the list.
A Clean Fifteen™ list was also released. This list, which includes sweet potatoes, avocados and kiwis, contains produce that has the least amount of pesticide residue. So if you can not afford organic, consider eating the foods on the clean list more often.
EWG also offers two great tools for those who may find sticking to this list too expensive or limited, or even time consuming. The first is EWG’s Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce 2013™ , which can be downloaded as a PDF or used as an app for your smart phone.
The second tool is Good Food on a Tight Budget, a site that offers tips on saving money on food, as well as tasty recipes!
Happy Eating!
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