The war rages on between those who swear by organic foods and those who don’t think there is any added benefit other than perhaps the farmers washing them a little more thoroughly. I for one would like to believe there are substantial benefits to organic foods, particularly when I pay so much more tor them. So I wanted to compose an article on them and while I was in process of doing research I found some other information that I even found more intriguing and surprising. As much as a joke as washing frequency might have been it’s been said in various languages that there is a little truth in every joke, I found data on the 13 fruit and vegetable that you need to clean the most before consumption that I found very valuable. Regardless of if you buy organic or not these items should be cleaned thoroughly before you eat them because of the shocking amounts of pesticide and other residue left on them. Here is a list of the worst 13 that demand your attention, unfortunately they are all things most of us purchase every week.
Strawberries – Yes that harmless ye delicious fruit that makes are waffles and pancakes less ordinary contained on average, contained an astounding 22 pesticide residues and one-third of all conventional strawberry samples contained 10 or more pesticides.
Spinach – Just because Popeye was able to chug it out of the can as his secret source of strength doesn’t mean you should. In fact, in a recent survey it was found that 97 percent of conventional spinach samples contained pesticide residues. So certainly clean it thoroughly before you eat it because even conventional spinach had relatively high concentrations of permethrin, a neurotoxic insecticide.
Nectarines – Nearly 94 percent of nectarine samples contained two or more pesticides.One sample of conventionally grown nectarines contained residues of 15 pesticides.
Apples – So sorry to be the bearer of bad news but an apple a day may keep the doctor away but just make sure you wah them first as 90 percent of conventional apples had detectable pesticide residues while 80 percent of apples tested contained diphenylamine, a pesticide banned in Europe.
Grapes – Not quite as bad as apples but grapes contain an average of five pesticide residues, and more than 96 percent of conventional grapes test positive for pesticide residues.
Peaches – Surprisingly were among the worst with more than 99 percent of conventional peaches had detectable pesticide residues with an average of four pesticide residues were detected on conventional peaches.
Cherries – Before you put one top of your ice cream you should know that an average of five pesticides were detected on conventional cherries and 30 percent of cherry samples contained iprodione, a pesticide not allowed in Europe, which may cause cancer.
Pears – Pears contained several pesticides in relatively high concentrations, including insecticides and fungicides. More than half of conventionally grown pears tested had residues of five or more pesticides.
Tomatoes – We move into the vegetable family with the cornerstone for most salads, but nearly four pesticides were detected on the average conventionally grown tomato. In the study conducted one sample of conventional tomatoes contained 15 different pesticides and breakdown products.
Celery – Obviously your root vegetables would probably need a little more attention than others being they’re in the ground, but more than 95 percent of conventional celery samples tested positive for pesticides. Moreover a maximum of 13 pesticides were detected on a sample of conventional celery.
Potatoes – Another in-ground vegetable, we found that conventional potatoes had more pesticide residues by weight than any other crop. One pesticide in particular, chlorpropham, makes up the bulk of pesticides detected on potatoes.
Sweet Bell Peppers – Almost 90 percent of conventional sweet bell pepper samples contained pesticide residues. The good news is that bell peppers are easier to clean because you won’t damage the vegetable when cleaning due to the harder surface outer layers. Sweet bell peppers can contain fewer pesticide residues than other Dirty Dozen foods, but the pesticides tend to be more toxic to human health.
Hot Peppers – Nearly three-quarters of hot pepper samples contained pesticide residues. Hot peppers were among the fruit and vegetables most watched list because they contain traces of highly toxic pesticides.