Think about the fruit and vegetables you buy. Yes, we’re all told to eat more of them for our health, and so we should, but not all are created equal.

In conventional farming all are treated with varying degrees of herbicides and pesticides and some retain these chemical nasties more than others. The US-based research centre Environmental Working Group (EWG) has published a free guide to those with the most (and least) pesticide residue. The group looked at 44 popular varieties, comparing data from 51,000 tests carried out by the US Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration.

It’s worth keeping a copy of the list in your wallet when you go shopping so at the very least you avoid the worst offenders, which EWG has labelled the Dirty Dozen. They point out that while washing and peeling fruit and vegetables does help remove some residue, it does not eliminate them (besides, with many fruit and vegetables you’d prefer to keep the skin on if you can for maximum nutrients). If you want to minimise your exposure – and that of the environment – to pesticides, try to choose organic when buying the following fruit and vegetables.

Go organic: Strawberries have some of the highest pesticide residues. Picture: Taco-Man23

Apples
Capsicum
Celery
Cherries
Grapes
Lettuce
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Potatoes
Spinach
Strawberries