We all want to eat things that are safe and not laden with toxins, but did you know the FDA actually allows fruits and vegetables be sold with toxic amounts of pesticides on them?

Environmental Working Groups “Dirty Dozen” & “Clean 15” has released this list to help us know what fruits and vegetables are safe and which ones are not.

Dirty Dozen:                                                  Clean Fifteen:

1. Apples                                                       1. Asparagus
2. Bell Peppers                                               2. Avocado
3. Blueberries- domestic                                  3. Cabbage
4. Celery                                                        4. Cantalope
5. Cucumbers                                                 5. Corn
6. Grapes                                                        6. Eggplant
7. Lettuce                                                        7. Grapefruit
8. Nectarines- imported                                    8. Kiwi
9. Peaches                                                      9. Mangoes
10. Potatoes                                                   10. Mushrooms
11. Spinach                                                    11. Onions
12. Strawberries                                              12. Pineapples
                                                                      13. Sweet peas
                                                                      14. Sweet Potatoes
                                                                      15. Watermelon

Extra care needs to be taken in washing, cleaning and preparing foods from the dirty dozen list. Make sure you follow the recommended instructions if you choose to eat the “Dirty” foods.

Bananas don’t appear on either list but apparently that’s because you have to peel the banana first. We’ve not seen any problem with bananas so far.

The safe thing is to make sure you clean all fruit and vegetables before eating and preparing them.