The top 12 foods you should buy organic.
The dirty dozen - Foods with the most pesticides.
While beef muscle is typically clean, beef fat is a different story altogether, with 10 different pesticides having been identified. Pork meat can be contaminated, but pork fat is more contaminated, with as many as 8 pesticides. For chicken, the thigh is most contaminated.
Raising animals with conventional modern methods often means using hormones to speed up growth, antibiotics to resist disease on crowded feed lots, and both pesticides and chemical fertilizers to grow the grain fed to the animals. Additionally, it takes many times the water and energy to raise one meal's worth of meat than it does one meal's worth of grain.
Consumers looking to avoid meats raised with these substances can seek out certified organic meat. To meet USDA standards, this meat can come only from animals fed organic feed and given no hormones or antibiotics. Searching out cuts from grass-fed animals ensures that you're eating meat from an animal that was fed a more natural diet, and looking for a local source of meats lets you question the farmer directly about the animal's diet and the farmer's method of raising it. It cuts down on the environmental cost of transportation, too.
#2 Milk
Pesticides and other man-made chemicals have been found in human breast milk, so it should come as no surprise that they have been found in dairy products, too. Twelve different pesticides have been identified in milk, and milk is of special concern because it is a staple of a child's diets.
Organic dairies cannot feed their cows with grains grown with pesticides, nor can they use antibiotics or growth hormones like rGBH or rbST. The overall impact of the herd is lessened when you choose organic milk.
#3 Coffee
Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don't regulate use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the USDA Organic label to ensure you're not buying beans that have been grown or processed with the use of potentially harmful chemicals.
Go a step or two further, and look for the Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance (or Bird Friendly) labels to ensure that your purchase supports farmers who are paid fairly and treated well. And look for shade-grown (Rainforest Alliance- or Bird Friendly-certified) varieties for the trifecta; that way you know the coffee is being grown under the canopy of the rainforest, leaving those ancient trees intact, along with the wildlife – particularly songbirds – that call them home.
#4 Celery
Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals that are used on conventional crops.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include broccoli, radishes and onions.
A perennial entrant on the Dirty Dozen list, 64 pesticides detected in residue on this veggie make celery rank No. 1 in the 2010 analysis, up from No. 4 in 2009.
#5 Peaches
Multiple pesticides are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.
Peaches, No. 1 on the Dirty Dozen list in 2009, rank No. 2 in 2010; 62 pesticides have been detected in residue on peaches.
#6 Strawberries
If you buy strawberries out of season, they're most likely imported from countries that use less-stringent regulations for pesticide use.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and pineapples.
Up from No. 6 in 2009, strawberries rank No. 3 on the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. Why? 59 pesticides have been detected in residue on strawberries.
#7 Apples
Like peaches, apples are typically grown with the use of poisons to kill a variety of pests, from fungi to insects. Scrubbing and peeling doesn't eliminate chemical residue completely, so its best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Peeling a fruit or vegetable also strips away many of their beneficial nutrients.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, bananas and tangerines.
Down from No. 2 in 2009, apples still rank among the dirtiest fruits and vegetables, with 42 different pesticides having been detected as residue.
#8 Blueberries
New on the Dirty Dozen list in 2010, blueberries are treated with as many as 52 pesticides, making them one of the dirtiest berries on the market.
#9 Nectarines
With 33 different types of pesticides found on nectarines, they rank up there with apples and peaches among the dirtiest tree fruit.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include, watermelon, papaya and mango.
#10 Peppers
Peppers have thin skins that don't offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They're often heavily sprayed with insecticides.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include green peas, broccoli and cabbage.
Tests have found 49 different pesticides on sweet bell peppers.
#11 Spinach
New on the list for 2010, spinach can be laced with as many as 48 different pesticides, making it one of the most contaminated green leafy vegetable.
#12 Kale
Traditionally kale is known as a hardier vegetable that rarely suffers from pests and disease, but it was found to have high amounts of pesticide residue when tested this year.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, asparagus and broccoli.
#13 Cherries
Even locally grown cherries are not necessarily safe. In fact, in one survey in recent years, cherries grown in the U.S. were found to have three times more pesticide residue then imported cherries.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include raspberries and cranberries.
Government testing has found 42 different pesticides on cherries.
#14 Potatoes
America's popular spud re-appears on the 2010 dirty dozen list, after a year hiatus. America's favorite vegetable can be laced with as many as 37 different pesticides.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include eggplant, cabbage and earthy mushrooms.
#15 Grapes
Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically only imported grapes make the 2010 Dirty Dozen list). Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's thin skin. Remember, wine is made from grapes, which testing shows can harbor as many as 34 different pesticides.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and raspberries.
#16 Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food (51 of them), though they dropped off the 2010 list.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
#17 Carrots
Off the list in 2010, carrots have made the Dirty Dozen list in previous years because of the 26 different pesticides that have been detected in food residue.
Can't find organic? At least be sure to scrub and peel them. Safer carrot alternatives include sweet corn, sweet peas and broccoli.
#18 Pears
As insects become more resilient to the pesticides used on pears, more and more chemicals are used (28 of them), though pears have dropped off the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. The safest bet is to go organic.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include grapefruit, honeydew mellon and mangos.
#19 Tomatoes
Tomatoes, on the Dirty Dozen list in 2008, and the Clean 15 list in 2009, rank neither among the dirtiest nor the cleanest in 2010.
It's still true that the thin skin of tomatoes can allow pesticides to enter the fruit, so it's always a good idea to buy organic when possible, even if the popular food is no longer among the worst actors.
Can't find organic? You may want to consider peas, broccoli and asparagus.
Okay. Maybe thats a few more than 12. It would be really hard to avoid all those foods and not all of them can be purchased organic. Just do the best you can and make small changes to your lifestyle for a healthier life.
Many of these can be grown organically and cheaply in your own backyard.
The dirty dozen - Foods with the most pesticides.
Dirty Dozen foods
Why should you care if there are pesticides on your food?
How about a couple dozen good reasons to care?
Here are some of the health hazards:
Asthma, Birth defects, neurological effects - dizziness, ticks, brain damage, etc., cancers - too many to list, hormone disruption - endometriosis, hypospadias, undescended testicles, precocious puberty in girls(early), reduced sperm count, fertility problems.
There is a new study linking ADHD with pesticides.
Pesticides are even in our water! YUCK!
Seems like no matter what we do we are doomed. Don't worry we are here to help.
The best way to avoid pesticides is to buy organic or avoid the foods that have the highest amount of pesticides in them.
Important note - These foods have the highest pesticides on the consumed part of the foods even after being washed thoroughly and processed.
Buying organic food can be expensive. Not every one can afford to buy 100 percent organic all the time. You can't even find 100% organic food all the time.
If you can't buy these foods organically then don't eat them!
According to the Environmental Working Group, consumers can reduce their pesticide exposure by 80% by avoiding the most contaminated fruits and vegetables.
If you eat the USDA-recommended 5 daily servings of fruits and veggies from the 15 most contaminated, you will consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. If you eat the 15 least contaminated foods you will ingest less than 2 pesticides daily.
# 1 Meat
While beef muscle is typically clean, beef fat is a different story altogether, with 10 different pesticides having been identified. Pork meat can be contaminated, but pork fat is more contaminated, with as many as 8 pesticides. For chicken, the thigh is most contaminated.
Raising animals with conventional modern methods often means using hormones to speed up growth, antibiotics to resist disease on crowded feed lots, and both pesticides and chemical fertilizers to grow the grain fed to the animals. Additionally, it takes many times the water and energy to raise one meal's worth of meat than it does one meal's worth of grain.
Consumers looking to avoid meats raised with these substances can seek out certified organic meat. To meet USDA standards, this meat can come only from animals fed organic feed and given no hormones or antibiotics. Searching out cuts from grass-fed animals ensures that you're eating meat from an animal that was fed a more natural diet, and looking for a local source of meats lets you question the farmer directly about the animal's diet and the farmer's method of raising it. It cuts down on the environmental cost of transportation, too.
#2 Milk
Pesticides and other man-made chemicals have been found in human breast milk, so it should come as no surprise that they have been found in dairy products, too. Twelve different pesticides have been identified in milk, and milk is of special concern because it is a staple of a child's diets.
Organic dairies cannot feed their cows with grains grown with pesticides, nor can they use antibiotics or growth hormones like rGBH or rbST. The overall impact of the herd is lessened when you choose organic milk.
#3 Coffee
Many of the beans you buy are grown in countries that don't regulate use of chemicals and pesticides. Look for the USDA Organic label to ensure you're not buying beans that have been grown or processed with the use of potentially harmful chemicals.
Go a step or two further, and look for the Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance (or Bird Friendly) labels to ensure that your purchase supports farmers who are paid fairly and treated well. And look for shade-grown (Rainforest Alliance- or Bird Friendly-certified) varieties for the trifecta; that way you know the coffee is being grown under the canopy of the rainforest, leaving those ancient trees intact, along with the wildlife – particularly songbirds – that call them home.
#4 Celery
Celery has no protective skin, which makes it almost impossible to wash off the chemicals that are used on conventional crops.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include broccoli, radishes and onions.
A perennial entrant on the Dirty Dozen list, 64 pesticides detected in residue on this veggie make celery rank No. 1 in the 2010 analysis, up from No. 4 in 2009.
#5 Peaches
Multiple pesticides are regularly applied to these delicately skinned fruits in conventional orchards.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.
Peaches, No. 1 on the Dirty Dozen list in 2009, rank No. 2 in 2010; 62 pesticides have been detected in residue on peaches.
#6 Strawberries
If you buy strawberries out of season, they're most likely imported from countries that use less-stringent regulations for pesticide use.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and pineapples.
Up from No. 6 in 2009, strawberries rank No. 3 on the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. Why? 59 pesticides have been detected in residue on strawberries.
#7 Apples
Like peaches, apples are typically grown with the use of poisons to kill a variety of pests, from fungi to insects. Scrubbing and peeling doesn't eliminate chemical residue completely, so its best to buy organic when it comes to apples. Peeling a fruit or vegetable also strips away many of their beneficial nutrients.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include watermelon, bananas and tangerines.
Down from No. 2 in 2009, apples still rank among the dirtiest fruits and vegetables, with 42 different pesticides having been detected as residue.
#8 Blueberries
New on the Dirty Dozen list in 2010, blueberries are treated with as many as 52 pesticides, making them one of the dirtiest berries on the market.
#9 Nectarines
With 33 different types of pesticides found on nectarines, they rank up there with apples and peaches among the dirtiest tree fruit.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include, watermelon, papaya and mango.
#10 Peppers
Peppers have thin skins that don't offer much of a barrier to pesticides. They're often heavily sprayed with insecticides.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include green peas, broccoli and cabbage.
Tests have found 49 different pesticides on sweet bell peppers.
#11 Spinach
New on the list for 2010, spinach can be laced with as many as 48 different pesticides, making it one of the most contaminated green leafy vegetable.
#12 Kale
Traditionally kale is known as a hardier vegetable that rarely suffers from pests and disease, but it was found to have high amounts of pesticide residue when tested this year.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, asparagus and broccoli.
#13 Cherries
Even locally grown cherries are not necessarily safe. In fact, in one survey in recent years, cherries grown in the U.S. were found to have three times more pesticide residue then imported cherries.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include raspberries and cranberries.
Government testing has found 42 different pesticides on cherries.
#14 Potatoes
America's popular spud re-appears on the 2010 dirty dozen list, after a year hiatus. America's favorite vegetable can be laced with as many as 37 different pesticides.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include eggplant, cabbage and earthy mushrooms.
#15 Grapes
Imported grapes run a much greater risk of contamination than those grown domestically only imported grapes make the 2010 Dirty Dozen list). Vineyards can be sprayed with different pesticides during different growth periods of the grape, and no amount of washing or peeling will eliminate contamination because of the grape's thin skin. Remember, wine is made from grapes, which testing shows can harbor as many as 34 different pesticides.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include kiwi and raspberries.
#16 Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are frequently contaminated with what are considered the most potent pesticides used on food (51 of them), though they dropped off the 2010 list.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
#17 Carrots
Off the list in 2010, carrots have made the Dirty Dozen list in previous years because of the 26 different pesticides that have been detected in food residue.
Can't find organic? At least be sure to scrub and peel them. Safer carrot alternatives include sweet corn, sweet peas and broccoli.
#18 Pears
As insects become more resilient to the pesticides used on pears, more and more chemicals are used (28 of them), though pears have dropped off the 2010 Dirty Dozen list. The safest bet is to go organic.
Can't find organic? Safer alternatives include grapefruit, honeydew mellon and mangos.
#19 Tomatoes
Tomatoes, on the Dirty Dozen list in 2008, and the Clean 15 list in 2009, rank neither among the dirtiest nor the cleanest in 2010.
It's still true that the thin skin of tomatoes can allow pesticides to enter the fruit, so it's always a good idea to buy organic when possible, even if the popular food is no longer among the worst actors.
Can't find organic? You may want to consider peas, broccoli and asparagus.
Okay. Maybe thats a few more than 12. It would be really hard to avoid all those foods and not all of them can be purchased organic. Just do the best you can and make small changes to your lifestyle for a healthier life.
Many of these can be grown organically and cheaply in your own backyard.