The impact of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals has become more apparent in recent years. Toxic chemical burden has been linked to hormonal disruption, cancers, brain toxicity and many other health problems (1)! We are becoming more aware of how these chemicals affect our bodies and most people want to avoid them whenever possible. Organic products have become more popular as people try to reduce their chemical exposure.
What does organic mean?
For a product to be labelled organic in Canada, it must follow specific guidelines set out by the Canada Food Inspection Agency. These standards apply for both livestock and crops. In terms of livestock, they lay out how animals must be house, fed, transported and slaughtered. For produce, they dictate how crops are grown, extracted, processed and stored. These guidelines also discuss how pests and diseases are to be treated and which substances, methods and ingredients must not be used.
In order to be considered organic, fruits and vegetables must not be treated with synthetic pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, wood preservatives or other unapproved substances. There is no guarantee that these products are completely free of contamination since some exposure is inevitable, but organic products have significantly lower levels of chemical and toxin exposure compared to non-organic ones.
Going completely organic may not be possible depending on your budget or lifestyle but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to protect yourself against an excessive toxic burden. The Environmental Working Group makes yearly assessments on contamination levels in foods. Based on their findings, they release a set of recommendations on which foods you should keep organic and which ones are less likely to be contaminated. These are known as the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen.
The Dirty Dozen
These fruits and vegetables are most likely to be contaminated with chemicals when bought in the non-organic form. They tend to have high water content and thin skins which makes them particularly susceptible. These are the foods to prioritize when choosing to buy organic.
1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Nectarines
4. Apples
5. Peaches
6. Pears
7. Cherries
8. Grapes
9. Celery
10. Tomatoes
11. Sweet Bell Peppers
12. Potatoes
Each of these foods contained higher concentrations of pesticides than other produce. They tested positive for a variety of pesticide residues and chemicals.
· 20 different pesticides were found in a sample of strawberries
· More than 98% of samples of spinach, peaches, nectarines, cherries and apples tested positive for at least one pesticide
· On average, spinach had twice as much pesticide residue by weight than any other crop
The Clean Fifteen
If you aren’t able to go completely organic, these foods tend to have limited chemical exposure because of their thicker skins and lower water content.
1. Sweet Corn
2. Avocadoes
3. Pineapples
4. Cabbage
5. Onions
6. Frozen Sweet Peas
7. Papayas
8. Asparagus
9. Mangos
10. Eggplant
11. Honeydew
12. Kiwi
13. Canteloupe
14. Cauliflower
15. Grapefruit
These foods are the least likely to contain pesticide residues since they had a lower number of individual pesticides detected with lower concentrations of chemical overall.
· Only 1% of avocadoes and sweet corn had detectable levels of pesticides
· Over 80% of pineapples, papayas, asparagus, onions and cabbage had no pesticide residues
· No fruit from the Clean Fifteen list tested positive for more than 4 types of pesticides
· Only 5% of Clean Fifteen vegetables had 2 or more pesticides
References
1. David Suzuki Foundation. (2006). Pesticide Use in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/reports/2006/pesticide-use-in-canada/
2. Environmental Working Group. (2017). EWG’s 2017 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Retrieved from https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php#.Wc6Qt2hSxPY
