The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen

The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen recognizes that many people who want reduce their exposure to pesticides in produce cannot find or afford an all-organic diet. With the Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen, shopper's can decide which foods are best to buy organically.

Dirty Dozen - a list of produce that most likely contains pesticide residue and generally should be purchased organic when possible.

       Key findings:

  • 99 percent of apple samples, 98 percent of peaches, and 97 percent of nectarines tested positive for at least one pesticide residue.
  • The average potato had more pesticides by weight than any other produce.
  • A single grape sample and a sweet bell pepper sample contained 15 pesticides.
  • Single samples of cherry tomatoes, nectarines, peaches, imported snap peas and strawberries showed 13 different pesticides apiece.

Clean Fifteen - a list of produce that is least likely to contain pesticide residue and don't necessarily need to be purchased organically.

        Key findings:

  • Avocados were the cleanest: only 1 percent of avocado samples showed any detectable pesticides.
  • Some 89 percent of pineapples, 82 percent of kiwi, 80 percent of papayas, 88 percent of mango and 61 percent of cantaloupe had no residues.
  • No single fruit sample from the Clean Fifteen™ tested positive for more than 4 types of pesticides.
  • Multiple pesticide residues are extremely rare on Clean Fifteen™ vegetables. Only 5.5 percent of Clean Fifteen samples had two or more pesticides.

For more information and your very own copy of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen visit : http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php

We at Omaha Spine and Sport hope you make wise food choices with a diet high in fruits and vegetables. We are here to answer any nutrition questions you may have as we recognize how important a healthy diet is to overall well-being.

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