Guest guest Posted March 20, 2005 Report Share Posted March 20, 2005 > > > | Source: Environmental Working Group > | http://www.foodnews.org/reportcard.php > | > | Report Card: Pesticides in Produce > | > | Adjusting your eating habits can lower your intake of pesticides -- > | sometimes dramatically so. Substitute organic for conventional produce > | that is consistently contaminated with pesticides. When organic is not > | available, eat fruits and vegetables with consistently low pesticide > | loads. > | > | An EWG simulation of thousands of consumers eating high and low > | pesticide diets shows that people can lower their pesticide exposure > | by 90 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and > | vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead. Eating the 12 > | most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to nearly > | 20 pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated > | will expose a person to a fraction over 2 pesticides per day. Less > | dramatic comparisons will produce less dramatic reductions, but > | without doubt using the Guide provides people with a way to make > | choices that lower pesticide exposure in the diet. > | > | Most Contaminated: The Dirty Dozen > | > | Consistent with two previous EWG investigations, fruits topped the > | list of the consistently most contaminated fruits and vegetables, with > | eight of the 12 most contaminated foods. Among the top six were four > | fruits, with peaches leading the list, then strawberries, apples and > | nectarines. Pears, cherries, red raspberries, and imported grapes were > | the other four fruits in the top 12. Among these eight fruits: > | > | * Nectarines had the highest percentage of samples test positive > | for pesticides (97.3 percent), followed by pears (94.4 percent) and > | peaches (93.7 percent). > | > | * Nectarines also had the highest likelihood of multiple > | pesticides on a single sample - 85.3 percent had two or more pesticide > | residues - followed by peaches (79.9 percent) and cherries (75.8 > percent). > | > | * Peaches and raspberries had the most pesticides detected on a > | single sample with nine pesticides on a single sample, followed by > | strawberries and apples, where eight pesticides were found on a single > | sample. > | > | * Peaches had the most pesticides overall with some combination of > | up to 45 pesticides found on the samples tested, followed by > | raspberries with 39 pesticides and apples and strawberries, both with > 36. > | > | Spinach, celery, potatoes, and sweet bell peppers are the vegetables > | most likely to expose consumers to pesticides. Among these four > | vegetables: > | > | * Celery had the highest of percentage of samples test positive > | for pesticides (94.5 percent), followed by spinach (83.4 percent) and > | potatoes (79.3 percent). > | > | * Celery also had the highest likelihood of multiple pesticides on > | a single vegetable (78 percent of samples), followed by spinach (51.8 > | percent) and sweet bell peppers (48.5 percent). > | > | * Spinach was the vegetable with the most pesticides detected on a > | single sample (10 found on one sample), followed by celery and sweet > | bell peppers (both with nine). > | > | * Sweet bell peppers were the vegetable with the most pesticides > | overall with 39, followed by spinach at 36 and celery and potatoes, > | both with 29. > | > | > | Least Contaminated: Consistently Clean > | > | The vegetables least likely to have pesticides on them are sweet corn, > | avocado, cauliflower, asparagus, onions, peas and broccoli. > | > | * Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of the pea and broccoli > | samples had no detectable pesticides. Among the other vegetables on > | the least-contaminated list, there were no detectable residues on 90 > | percent or more of the samples. > | > | * Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on any of these > | least contaminated vegetables. Broccoli had the highest likelihood, > | with a 2.6 percent chance of more than one pesticide when ready to > | eat. Avocado and corn both had the lowest chance with zero samples > | containing more than one pesticide when eaten. > | > | * The greatest number of pesticides detected on a single sample of > | any of these low-pesticide vegetables was three as compared to 10 > | found on spinach, the most contaminated crop with the most residues. > | > | * Broccoli and onions both had the most pesticides found on a > | single vegetable crop at up to 17 pesticides but far fewer than the > | most contaminated vegetable, sweet bell peppers, on which 39 were found. > | > | The five fruits least likely to have pesticide residues on them are > | pineapples, mangoes, bananas, kiwi and papaya. > | > | * Fewer than 10 percent of pineapple and mango samples had > | detectable pesticides on them and fewer than one percent of samples > | had more than one pesticide residue. > | > | * Though 53 percent of bananas had detectable pesticides, multiple > | residues are rare with only 4.7 percent of samples containing more > | than one residue. Kiwi and papaya had residues on 23.6 percent and > | 21.7 percent of samples, respectively, and just 10.4 percent and 5.6 > | percent of samples, respectively, had multiple pesticide residues. > | > | > | 12 Most Contaminated > | Buy These Organic > | > | . Apples > | . Bell Peppers > | . Celery > | . Cherries > | . Imported Grapes > | . Nectarines > | . Peaches > | . Pears > | . Potatoes > | . Red Raspberries > | . Spinach > | . Strawberries > | > | > | > | 12 Least Contaminated > | > | . Asparagus > | . Avocados > | . Bananas > | . Broccoli > | . Cauliflower > | . Corn (sweet) > | . Kiwi > | . Mangos > | . Onions > | . Papaya > | . Pineapples > | . Peas (sweet) > | > | > | > | Should I stop eating certain foods? > | > | We recommend that you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables because > they're > | essential to a healthy diet. But you can and should cut back on > | pesticides--just as you might cut back on fat, calories or cholesterol. > | > | Right now, buying organic food is the best option to reduce your intake > of > | pesticides if (like us) you're skeptical about government and chemical > | company claims that pesticides are " safe. " If you want to eat > conventionally > | produced fruits and vegetables that usually have fewer pesticides, you > can > | change your eating habits to do so. > | > | > | > | What about washing? > | > | Washing will not change the rank of the fruits and vegetables in the > Guide. > | That's because nearly all of the data used to create these lists comes > from > | the USDA Pesticide Data Program (PDP) where the foods are washed and > | prepared for normal consumption prior to testing for pesticides (apples > are > | washed and cored, bananas are peeled, etc.). > | > | While washing fresh produce may help reduce pesticide residues, it > clearly > | does not eliminate them. Nonetheless, produce should be washed before it > is > | eaten because washing does reduce levels of some pesticides. However, > other > | pesticides are taken up internally into the plant, are in the fruit, and > | cannot be washed off. Others are formulated to bind to the surface of > the > | crop and do not easily wash off. Peeling reduces exposures, but valuable > | nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. > | > | The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose > | organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful > chemicals. > | > | --Shortcuts: > | WANNA READ THE ARCHIVES AND CATCH UP ON WHAT YOU'VE BEEN MISSING??? GO > TO:----> http://associate.com/mimerdesk/ Sign in or join up and then sign > in..... > | Under my groups, click on HomesteadHeaven. Then under latest email > messages you can click on any message and read. Once on any message there > is a link at the top of the message to go to threads by date. > | > | -- > | Associate.com - THE Place to Associate! > http://associate.com > | Is Your E-mail Group Here? Visit > http://associate.com/faq/your-list-here.shtml > | > | > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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