Pesticide Residue in Fruits and Vegetables
January 16th, 2008
Below is a table of 43 fruits and vegetables that were tested by the Environmental Working Group for pesticide residue. The foods are ranked from worst to best (descending) and the chart will tell you what percentage of that particular fruit/vegetable had pesticides on it and how many pesticides could be detected on each fruit/vegetable. For example, peaches were the worst. 96.6% of peaches had pesticides on them. 86.6% of the peaches had 2 or more different pesticides on them. It's pretty scary stuff. Makes some foods seem a little less, um, peachy...
| Rank (worst to best) | Commodity | Combined Score | Percentage of Samples Tested with Detectable Pesticides | Percentage of Samples With Two or More Pesticides | Average Number of Pesticides Found on a Sample | Average Amount (in ppm*) of All Pesticides Found | Maximum Number of Pesticides Found on a Single Sample | Number of Pesticides Found on the Commodity in Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peaches | 100 | 96.6% | 86.6% | 3.1 | 1.134 | 9 | 42 |
| 2 | Apples | 96 | 93.6% | 82.3% | 2.8 | 0.894 | 9 | 50 |
| 3 | Sweet Bell Peppers | 86 | 81.5% | 62.2% | 2.4 | 0.138 | 11 | 64 |
| 4 | Celery | 85 | 94.1% | 79.8% | 3.0 | 0.413 | 9 | 30 |
| 5 | Nectarines | 84 | 97.3% | 85.3% | 3.0 | 0.576 | 7 | 26 |
| 6 | Strawberries | 83 | 92.3% | 69.2% | 2.3 | 0.799 | 8 | 38 |
| 7 | Cherries | 75 | 91.4% | 75.8% | 2.8 | 0.290 | 7 | 25 |
| 8 | Lettuce | 69 | 68.2% | 44.2% | 1.7 | 0.142 | 9 | 57 |
| 9 | Grapes - Imported | 68 | 84.2% | 53.2% | 1.8 | 0.284 | 8 | 37 |
| 10 | Pears | 65 | 86.2% | 45.7% | 1.6 | 0.586 | 6 | 33 |
| 11 | Spinach | 60 | 70.0% | 31.2% | 1.1 | 1.240 | 6 | 24 |
| 12 | Potatoes | 58 | 81.0% | 18.0% | 1.0 | 1.655 | 4 | 18 |
| 13 | Carrots | 57 | 81.7% | 48.3% | 1.6 | 0.046 | 6 | 31 |
| 14 | Green Beans | 55 | 67.6% | 42.0% | 1.4 | 0.199 | 6 | 35 |
| 15 | Hot Peppers | 53 | 55.0% | 27.5% | 1.0 | 0.290 | 6 | 51 |
| 16 | Cucumbers | 52 | 72.5% | 31.7% | 1.2 | 0.057 | 6 | 40 |
| 17 | Raspberries | 47 | 47.9% | 23.3% | 0.9 | 0.906 | 6 | 21 |
| 18 | Plums | 46 | 74.0% | 27.1% | 1.1 | 0.666 | 4 | 15 |
| 19 | Oranges | 46 | 85.1% | 34.6% | 1.3 | 0.100 | 4 | 18 |
| 20 | Grapes - Domestic | 46 | 60.5% | 23.4% | 0.9 | 0.104 | 7 | 31 |
| 21 | Cauliflower | 39 | 84.6% | 14.6% | 1.0 | 0.004 | 5 | 15 |
| 22 | Tangerines | 38 | 66.7% | 33.3% | 1.2 | 0.375 | 3 | 4 |
| 23 | Mushrooms | 37 | 60.2% | 22.3% | 0.9 | 0.158 | 5 | 16 |
| 24 | Cantaloupe | 34 | 53.3% | 19.4% | 0.8 | 0.026 | 4 | 25 |
| 25 | Lemon | 31 | 55.6% | 10.0% | 0.7 | 0.188 | 5 | 10 |
| 26 | Honeydew Melon | 31 | 59.2% | 14.2% | 0.8 | 0.012 | 4 | 16 |
| 27 | Grapefruit | 31 | 62.9% | 15.2% | 0.8 | 0.056 | 4 | 9 |
| 28 | Winter Squash | 31 | 41.3% | 11.6% | 0.6 | 0.017 | 5 | 26 |
| 29 | Tomatoes | 30 | 46.9% | 13.5% | 0.6 | 0.029 | 5 | 16 |
| 30 | Sweet Potatoes | 30 | 58.4% | 10.0% | 0.7 | 0.198 | 3 | 17 |
| 31 | Watermelons | 25 | 38.5% | 13.2% | 0.6 | 0.021 | 4 | 13 |
| 32 | Blueberries | 24 | 27.5% | 10.0% | 0.4 | 0.327 | 4 | 11 |
| 33 | Papaya | 21 | 23.5% | 5.0% | 0.3 | 0.053 | 4 | 19 |
| 34 | Eggplant | 19 | 23.4% | 6.9% | 0.3 | 0.013 | 4 | 15 |
| 35 | Broccoli | 18 | 28.1% | 3.2% | 0.3 | 0.004 | 3 | 19 |
| 36 | Cabbage | 17 | 17.9% | 4.8% | 0.2 | 0.121 | 3 | 18 |
| 37 | Bananas | 16 | 41.7% | 2.0% | 0.4 | 0.029 | 2 | 7 |
| 38 | Kiwi | 14 | 15.3% | 3.4% | 0.2 | 0.160 | 3 | 8 |
| 40 | Asparagus | 11 | 6.7% | 0.6% | 0.1 | 0.026 | 2 | 19 |
| 41 | Sweet Peas - Frozen | 11 | 22.9% | 2.3% | 0.3 | 0.010 | 2 | 5 |
| 42 | Mango | 9 | 7.1% | 0.5% | 0.1 | 0.057 | 2 | 13 |
| 43 | Pineapples | 7 | 7.7% | 0.6% | 0.1 | 0.002 | 2 | 7 |
| 44 | Sweet Corn - Frozen | 2 | 3.8% | 0.0% | 0.0 | 0.005 | 1 | 3 |
| 45 | Avocado | 1 | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.0 | 0.001 | 1 | 2 |
| 46 | Onions | 1 | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0 | 0.000 | 1 | 2 |
Note: EWG ranked a total of 42 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because they looked at both domestic and imported samples.
* ppm means parts per million
