This week, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released an update to its annual Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists. These lists reveal products with the highest and lowest levels of pesticide residues, according to their methodology. The report looks more or less like last year’s guide, with strawberries taking the unfortunate number one spot, beating spinach and nectarines.
Here’s the Dirty Dozen of 2018:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Cherries
- Pears
- Tomatoes
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Bell peppers
Many of these fruits and vegetables are probably some of your favorites, often ending up on your family’s shopping list and dinner table each week. As a parent, I find this information disturbing. I certainly don’t want to give my child a pesticide-laced smoothie or salad. But, as a healthcare professional, I know how to put this information into perspective, and I look forward to helping you do the same.
What the ‘Dirty Dozen’ tells you
The EWG analyzes fruit and vegetable data to quantify chemical residues from pesticides, looking at things like the average number of pesticides found in a single sample and the maximum number detected. Your analysis is not designed to provide details on the chemical present or the dosage. This means that the results are not designed to provide information on the levels encountered or the significance of the exposure.
The buyer’s guide is intended to provide tips for consumers who want to limit exposure to pesticides to choose varieties with low scores (their Clean 15 list) or to substitute organic products for foods that are listed in the Dirty Dozen.
Despite the key findings and concerns the EWG raises about pesticides, they also say that eating conventionally grown produce is far better than skipping fruits and vegetables. More on this shortly, but first, let’s talk about organic farming practices.
Organic in a nutshell
Organic food is regulated by the USDA and is a designation that refers to a food production and processing system designed to protect and enhance the environment. There are also regulations on animal welfare. These practices have many benefits and are designed to preserve our resources, such as water and land.
But let’s clarify one thing: organic products are not free of pesticides. There are pesticides that are used in organic farming, but they are derived from natural substances rather than synthetic ones, and as says Carl Winter, Ph.D., Extension Food Toxicologist and Vice President of Food Science and Technology at the University of California , Davis, in any case, “the dose produces the poison.”
How Concerned Should We Be About Pesticides?
There are theoretical concerns about pesticides that, as a parent, concern me. Winter doesn’t think we should and says “these concerns are based on values, not science.”
Their research, published in the Journal of Toxicology, found that consuming foods on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list posed no real threat, and substituting organic versions for the so-called worst did not result in an appreciable reduction in risk. “The real risk is minimal,” he says.
Toxicologists like Winter are looking at three pillars of risk: how much of these things are we actually getting in our food, how much of the food are we eating, and how bad is the amount we are eating? Remember that Dirty Dozen is not designed to answer any of these questions, and therefore, says Winter, cannot provide valuable information to buyers. If you don’t know the pesticide levels in strawberries and spinach, how do you know they pose a problem? Winter, along with other scientists, say no.
And while natural pesticides certainly sound healthier, it again comes down to the amount of a specific substance you are ingesting. A derivative of copper, for example, is used as a fungicide in organic farming. If ingested at inappropriate levels, it can be toxic. However, in the amounts detected in food, Winter’s point is that in the amounts we consume, neither natural nor synthetic pesticides present any cause for concern.
The science of pesticides is complicated. Studies showing harm often look at correlations rather than causation, meaning they do not prove that pesticide exposure causes the detected health outcome. Some are performed on agricultural workers and / or their children, people who would be exposed to much higher doses than those of us who are ingesting food residues. (It stays on your shoes, for example, so these chemicals can pollute your home environment.)
Still, it’s troubling to read headlines that raise concerns about pesticide risk, such as the recent study linking pesticide exposure to worse pregnancy outcomes among women receiving infertility treatment. Although this may raise some red flags, Winter again takes a more scientific view. The researchers used a similar system to identify pesticide residues like the EWG, a system that many scientists question because it does not address the actual amounts of chemicals detected. And while it didn’t make headlines, she notes that women who consumed the most products high in pesticide residues were also more likely to eat organic products. In other words, they were eating a lot of fruits and vegetables on both sides of the aisle.
If the scientific explanation isn’t reassuring enough, and if you are among populations that may be more vulnerable to pesticide exposure (such as pregnant women, couples trying to get pregnant, and very young children), a few extra precautions may give you some peace . of the mind. The following money saving tips can help you buy organic.
Food production is improving in some cases
I am in favor of organic farming practices and encouraged that through advancements in understanding and technology, certain food production methods are being used outside of traditional organic farms. Mary Ellen Camire, Ph.D., CFS, Fellow, Institute of Food Technologists, Professor of Food Science & Human Nutrition, School of Food & Agriculture at the University of Maine explains that many small local farms reduce the use of synthetic pesticides by applying similar practices, such as the use of protective insects to help control creatures that are harmful or destructive. He also notes that urban farms use hydroponic technology to produce food in greenhouses with little, if any, pesticide use.
And there has been an appropriate move to minimize pesticide use on conventional farms in the United States, according to Roger Clemens, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences and associate director of the regulatory science program at the University of Southern California. This is all good news.
Winter worries about what he calls “shaming the shopping cart,” or making families feel guilty or stressed because they are buying ordinary products.
The real risk is not eating fruits and vegetables.
All three experts say the real risk is not exposure to pesticides, but not eating enough produce. There is strong evidence pointing to the fact that the vast majority of Americans do not meet their fruit and vegetable needs. Winter worries about what he calls “shaming the shopping cart,” or making families feel guilty or stressed because they are buying ordinary products. Or worse yet, alienate families from these beneficial foods. You’re right to be concerned: A 2016 study found that among low-income people, messages about pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables made them less likely to buy these nutritional powerhouses, regardless of whether they were conventional or organic.
And the EWG agrees, saying that “the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure. Eating conventionally grown produce is much better than skipping fruits and vegetables.” .
A 2016 study found that among low-income people, messages about pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables made them less likely to buy these nutritional powerhouses, regardless of whether they were conventional or organic.
What should a concerned consumer do?
For many (if not most) Americans it is unrealistic to eat strictly organic foods. So, first of all, eat more vegetables and fruits! Whether organic or not, these foods protect you from chronic and costly conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and certain forms of cancer.
And rest assured that whatever type of product you choose, your food is safe. Although Camire grows some of her own produce in her organic garden in Maine, mother and grandmother admitted that [organic] it hasn’t been a driving force in my family’s diet over the years. “
The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure.
How to buy organic products on a budget
If you are in a position of choice and want to include organic food, here are some ways you can get the most out of your investment:
- Start with fruits and vegetables and other foods that your family eats most often. For example, if you drink milk every day and eat spinach, go for organic food. With foods that you eat much less frequently, you may feel more relaxed.
- Buy frozen organic products, which is often priced lower, but just as nutritious. (The same goes for conventional produce; frozen fruits and vegetables are a good bargain!) This tactic has an added bonus. A 2017 study found that people who eat frozen items eat more items overall.
- Buy organic food in bulk. Costco and other big box stores offer great organic finds for cost-conscious shoppers looking to stock up.
- Opt for private label products. Most chain grocery stores, from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods to Kroger and Safeway, have organic store-brand offerings that are less expensive than the brand-name versions that are on the shelf.
- Find more ways to save. Your supermarket’s social media platforms and weekly circulars can alert you to sales so you can keep an eye out for organic price drops