Eat Well – Buy Organic or Not?

The not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) ranked 44 popular, non-organic fruits and vegetables according to the level of pesticides present in each.  As you head to the grocery store keep the list below in mind when you make a decision whether to buy organic or conventional (non-organic) produce.

 

If you can, then buy all organic.  If not, use this rule of thumb: buy organic for the fruits and vegetables with an inherent high level of pesticides and conventional for those that have relatively less.  Visit www.foodnews.org for more detail. 

 

FRUIT OR VEGGIE	BEST SCORE	FRUIT OR VEGGIE	WORST SCORE
Onions	1 (lowest pesticide load)	Peaches	100 (highest pesticide load)
Avocado	1	Apples	96
Sweet Corn-Frozen	2	Sweet Bell Peppers	86
Pineapples	7	Celery	85
Mango	9	Nectarines	84
Asparagus	11	Strawberries	83
Sweet Peas-Frozen	11	Cherries	75
Kiwi	14	Lettuce	69
Bananas	16	Grapes – Imported	68
Cabbage	17	Pears	65
Broccoli	18	Spinach	60
Eggplant	19	Potatoes	58
Papaya	21	Carrots	57
Blueberries	24	Green Beans	55
Watermelon	25	Hot Peppers	53
Tomatoes	30	Cucumbers	52
Sweet Potatoes	30	Raspberries	47
Lemon	31	Plums	46
Honeydew Melon	31	Oranges	46
Grapefruit	31	Grapes-Domestic	46
Winter Squash	31	Cauliflower	39
Cantaloupe	34	Tangerine	38
		Mushrooms	37