The Environmental Working Group (EWG) launched its 2025 “Soiled Dozen” and “Clear Fifteen” reviews — lists of conventionally grown vegetables and fruit with the very best and lowest ranges of pesticide residue.
After holding the highest spot on the Soiled Dozen listing for 9 straight years, strawberries have been bumped to second place by spinach, now probably the most pesticide-contaminated produce. Like final 12 months, darkish leafy greens, grapes, and peaches spherical out the highest 5. New to this 12 months’s Soiled Dozen? Blackberries and potatoes.
This 12 months, EWG up to date its methodology to incorporate pesticide toxicity as an element within the rankings. The up to date methodology nonetheless measures the produce with probably the most pesticides, nevertheless it additionally appears to be like on the fruits and veggies with probably the most potential well being dangers.
Take blueberries, for instance, which landed at No. 11 on the Soiled Dozen listing. Twelve p.c of all blueberry samples contained phosmet, an organophosphate insecticide “that could be dangerous to youngsters’s growing brains,” mentioned Alexis Temkin, PhD, vp for science for EWG.
“The up to date methodology displays vital features of pesticide publicity for folks,” Dayna de Montagnac, MPH, EWG affiliate scientist, notes in a information launch. “Our analysis takes into consideration the efficiency of every chemical and can assist buyers scale back their general pesticide burden.”
Natural produce is usually a sensible choice for decreasing pesticide publicity, provides Temkin, however “it’s vital to keep in mind that everybody ought to eat loads of vegetables and fruit nonetheless they’re grown, together with objects on the Soiled Dozen.”
Listed here are EWG’s Soiled Dozen and Clear Fifteen lists for 2025:
The Soiled Dozen: |
The Clear Fifteen: |
|
|
For a full listing of the place numerous fruits and veggies rank, go to the EWG web site.
