UPDATE: The Clean Fifteen & Dirty Dozen

Last year, I blogged about The Environmental Working Group's annual list of the "cleanest" & most contaminated commercially grown produce available in supermarkets in the US. 

The Dirty Dozen 2010 HERE

The Clean Fifteen 2010 HERE

The annual study for 2011 has just been released & I thought I would share the list again since eating off the clean 15 & avoiding the dirty dozen (by buying organic) can significantly reduce your intake of pesticides & other carcinogenic & harmful additives in your produce. 

Here's the list: 

 

EWG's Article HERE

A rule of thumb that I follow for buying organic: 

If you peel it or don't eat the otter layer of the veggie or fruit, it's okay to buy commercially grown.  If you eat the skin of the fruit or veggie or if there's no "peeling" involved, buy organic.  If you think about it, pesticides are sprayed directly onto your produce.  The outer layer absorbs the pesticides & protects the core of your food, making the it okay to eat.  Foods like spinach (there's no protective layer) or apples (you eat the outside of the fruit) should always be purchased organic so you're not ingesting those harmful pesticides. 

xoxo Shauna

The Clean 15

1.  Onions 

2.  Avocado 

3.  Sweet Corn 

4.  Pineapple 

5.  Mangos

6. Sweet Peas

7.  Asparagus

8.  Kiwi 

9.  Cabbage

10.  Eggplant 

11.  Cantaloupe 

12.  Watermelon 

13.  Grapefruit

14.  SweetPotato

15. Honeydew Melon

Although buying organic helps local farmers, the foods above have the LOWEST amount of pesticides for non-organic fruits & vegetables.   Research has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than 2 pesticides daily.