The Dirtiest and Cleanest Fruits and Vegetables

That kale you're eating is rich in fiber, vitamins, antioxidants -- and, it turns out, pesticides. Here are the dirtiest and cleanest produce.
By Samanda Dorger ,

Talk about a poison apple.

Most conventionally grown apples are treated with pesticides and other chemicals, and are consistently near the top of the list of pesticide-laced produce, according to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit that advocates for public health.

And that kale you're eating isn't just rich in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants -- it's got plenty of pesticides, too. Most of the kale tested by the USDA was found to have pesticide residues, including one chemical that is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a possible human carcinogen, and is prohibited for use in Europe, EWG says.

Nearly 70% of the produce sold in the U.S. comes with pesticide residues, according to EWG's analysis of test data from the USDA.

Overall, USDA data shows 225 different pesticides and pesticide breakdown products on the produce that Americans eat every day -- and that's after these fruits and vegetables were washed and peeled.

EWG ranks the levels pesticide contamination on 47 popular fruits and vegetables based on an analysis of more than 40,900 samples taken by the USDA and FDA. The USDA doesn't test every food every year, so EWG generally uses data from the most recent 1- or 2-year sampling period for each food.

Based on EWG's ranking, these are the popular fruits and vegetables with the most and the least pesticide residue. 

The Dirtiest and Cleanest Fruits and Vegetables in 2019:

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