Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides – Organic Fruit and Veggies Still Recommended

With everyone’s budget being a little (or a lot!) tight these days, it’s important to shop smart. The Environmental Working Group has recently updated their “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides“ to educate us about the worst conventional vegetables and fruit to buy. While onions and avocados might be ok to buy conventional, it’s best to prioritize peaches, apples and sweet bell peppers for your pesticide free shopping list. Buying organic will ensure that you are pesticide free, but the items might have been shipped thousands of miles to get to your store. If you have the option to shop at your local farmers market, ask the farmers about their practices. Even if the farm isn’t certified organic, they are often using sustainable practices. Ask questions, it’s the only way to know what you are buying and a great way to get involved with your food.

“Consumers cannot shop their way out of being exposed to toxic chemicals, but the Shopper’s Guide can help people make smart decisions that dramatically reduce their pesticide intake,” said EWG Executive Director Richard Wiles. “The Shopper’s Guide is a must have for expectant mothers and parents of young children. While the government ponders pesticide risks, parents need to know which fruits or vegetables might expose their child to a handful of toxic pesticides, and which will not.”

Read on for the full press release from the Environmental Working Group.

People Can Reduce Pesticide Exposure by 80 Percent Through Smart Shopping and Using the Guide

Organic Fruit and Veggies Still Recommended

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2009 – Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) popular Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides has a new look — and an updated list of fruits and vegetables or consumers who aim to reduce their families’ exposure to pesticides.

Thousands of people take the handy wallet-size Shopper’s Guide, now in its 5th edition, to the supermarket. EWG always recommends buying organic, but when your budget is tight or it’s not available, consumers can use the Shopper’s Guide lists of “Dirty Dozen” and Clean 15″ fruits and vegetables to determine which conventionally-grown produce items have the lightest pesticide load, and which have the highest.

The Shopper’s Guide can be downloaded free at www.foodnews.org. It will soon be available as an iPhone application.

The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of some pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.

The Shopper’s Guide has been developed by EWG based on data from nearly 87,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce conducted between 2000 and 2007, and collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. First produced in1995, the 5th edition has been updated to reflect the latest information about pesticides on produce.

“Consumers cannot shop their way out of being exposed to toxic chemicals, but the Shopper’s Guide can help people make smart decisions that dramatically reduce their pesticide intake,” said EWG Executive Director Richard Wiles. “The Shopper’s Guide is a must have for expectant mothers and parents of young children. While the government ponders pesticide risks, parents need to know which fruits or vegetables might expose their child to a handful of toxic pesticides, and which will not.”

EWG’s computer analysis has found that consumers can reduce their pesticide exposure by 80 percent by avoiding the most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating only the cleanest.

Contact: EWG Public Affairs, (202) 667-6982