I'll Take the Fruit — Hold the Pesticides

7/18/2007

Frightened by fruits and vegetables? Worried that these otherwise healthy foods contain too many agricultural chemicals? We all know we’re supposed to encourage our kids to pick up an apple or a carrot instead of a snack cake, but what about the residues of herbicides, pesticides, waxes, and other chemicals that might be on them?

You’re smart to try to minimize your child’s exposure to agricultural chemicals. We don’t know enough about their long-term toxic effects, and regulation of the chemicals in our food is not as strong as it should be. I do advise caution, because some of these compounds have the potential to affect a growing child’s development.

Fortunately, finding safe foods for your family is getting easier all the time. There are more organic foods being produced, and they are now available even in many of the big grocery chains.

Here are my 4 best shopping tips:

• Avoid buying fresh fruits or vegetables out of season. These are generally imported and more likely to have higher levels of agricultural chemicals. If in doubt about where a fruit or vegetable was grown, ask the produce department staff.
• Wash all produce. Washing won’t eliminate all pesticides, but it does usually reduce them. Plus it gets rid of harmful bacteria and parasites.
• Avoid the most contaminated fruits and vegetables. According to the Environmental Working Group, you can lower your pesticide exposure 90% just by avoiding the 12 most contaminated foods, and eating more of the 12 least contaminated fruits and vegetables. You can find EWG’s helpful guide to pesticide levels in specific kinds of fruits and vegetables at www.foodnews.org.
• Buy organic where it counts. Organic produce is often (but not always) more expensive than non-organic. If you cannot afford to buy all organic produce, do at least buy fruits and vegetables on the Dirty Dozen list from organic producers.

The Best and the Worst (according to the EWG)

• The “Dirty Dozen” (starting with the worst): peaches, apples, sweet bell pepper, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach, and potatoes.
• The “Cleanest 12” (starting with the best): onions, avocado, frozen corn, pineapple, mango, frozen peas, asparagus, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant.