THE MOST TOXIC FOOD ITEMS- THE DIRTY DOZENS

Generally, people consider contaminated foods to be the most poisonous. Yet, what they don’t realize is that the foods they eagerly eat are actually the most toxic, as they contain high levels of pesticides. These foods are notoriously known as the dirty dozen, let’s see which foods made that list this year. The Dirty Dozen is a list of fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticide residues created by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) to educate the public on food safety.

The 2024 Dirty Dozen food list

According to the EWG, the following conventional fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of pesticide residues  

1. Strawberries: Conventional strawberries consistently top the Dirty Dozen list. In 2023, the EWG found that 30% of all strawberry samples contained ten or more pesticide residues.
2. Spinach: 76% of spinach samples contained pesticide residues, including permethrin, a neurotoxic insecticide that is highly toxic to animals.
3. Kale, mustard, and collard greens. 86% of all samples of leafy greens were found to contain two or more pesticide residues, including the neurotoxins imidacloprid, bifenthrin and cypermethrin.
4. Peaches: Over 99% of the peaches tested by the EWG contained pesticide residues, with 65% containing at least four.
5. Pears: Over 63% of pears tested by the EWG contained residues from five or more pesticides.
6. Nectarines: The EWG detected residues in nearly 94% of nectarine samples, with one sample containing over 15 different pesticide residues.
7. Apples: The EWG detected pesticide residues in 90% of apple samples. What’s more, 80% of the apples tested contained traces of diphenylamine, a pesticide banned in Europe.
8. Grapes: Conventional grapes are a staple on the Dirty Dozen list, with over 96% testing positive for pesticide residues.
9. Bell and hot peppers: Sweet bell peppers contain fewer pesticide residues compared to other fruits and vegetables. Yet, the EWG cautions that pesticides used on sweet bell peppers “tend to be more toxic to human health.”
10. Cherries: The EWG detected an average of five pesticide residues on cherry samples, including a pesticide called iprodione, which is banned in Europe.
11. Blueberries: The EWG found that 90% of blueberries had pesticide residues, with 80% containing two or more.
12. Green beans: The EWG added green beans to the Dirty Dozen list after finding that 90% of samples contained pesticides, including acephate, a neurotoxin banned by the EPA in 2011.

EWG – The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the public on issues like agricultural practices, natural resource protection and the impact of chemicals on human health.  

• Since 1995, the EWG has released the Dirty Dozen — a list of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticide residue.
• Pesticides are substances commonly used in agriculture to protect crops from damage caused by insects, weed pressure and diseases.
• To compile the Dirty Dozen list, the EWG analyzes over 46,569 samples of 46 fruits and vegetables, taken by the USDA and FDA to single out the worst offenders.

The EWG uses six measures to determine pesticide contamination of produce

• Percent of samples tested with detectable pesticides
• Percent of samples with two or more detectable pesticides
• Average number of pesticides found on a single sample
• Average amount of pesticides found, measured in parts per million
• Maximum number of pesticides found on a single sample
• Total number of pesticides found on the crop

Author: Master Vikrant RohinMaster Vikrant Rohin is an international author, and more than four countries’ schools are using his books in the core curriculum of education. He is the author of twenty different subject books. History, Economics, Chemistry, Physics, English, Biology, Geography etc. Most of his students hold high-ranking positions in the public and private sectors. He has cracked the world’s toughest exam, the "Civil Services Examination (UPSC)," eight times. Always a topper in academics, he was also a top-class sportsman, a state boxer, and a basketball player.