No one wants to eat dangerous pesticides with their fruits and veggies. Unfortunately, a lot of the produce that is grown around the world is treated with such chemicals to ward off bugs and disease. And some of that is left behind in residue when we get our hands on it.
Some fruits and veggies contain more residue than others. Often times the thickness of the skin protecting said produce is what keeps out the residue. For example, pineapples have a tough skin that is removed before eating, so not a lot of pesticide residue is found in the fruit that we eat. On the other hand, strawberries contain high levels of residue because not only do we eat the entire berry, but it has a porous exterior, as well.
To avoid this pesticide residue altogether, you can opt for organic produce. (It should be noted that organic produce does also use pesticides, but they’ve been approved by the USDA as organic because they occur naturally.) The only downfall is that organic is significantly pricier. That’s why today we’re going to talk about the fruits and veggies that you don’t actually have to buy organic.
The Environmental Working Group tested over 50 kinds of produce for pesticide residue and labeled those with low levels as “clean.” Here are 15 of those, starting with the cleanest.
1 Avocados
2 Sweet Corn
3 Pineapple
4 Cabbage
5 Frozen Sweet Peas
6 Onions
7 Asparagus
8 Mango
9 Papaya
10 Kiwi
11 Eggplant
12 Honeydew Melon
13 Grapefruit
14 Cantaloupe
15 Cauliflower
And then there are the 12 you’ll always want to buy organic:
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Celery
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
- Sweet bell peppers
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumbers
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