Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15: Steering Shoppers Towards Agrichemical Contamination Rather Than Organic Food

LA FARGE, WIS. — Every spring the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™. For more than two decades, this guide has been distributed to consumers concerned about pesticide contamination in fruits and vegetables. A newly updated white paper from food and farming watchdog OrganicEye questions the legitimacy of encouraging shoppers to purchase commonly contaminated conventional, non-organic produce.

OrganicEye applauds the work EWG has done producing their Dirty Dozen™ list of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables — and, at least in the past, recommending shoppers choose certified organic alternatives. However, the organization criticizes EWG’s Clean 15™ list, which recommends conventionally grown fruits and vegetables with relatively lower levels of pesticide residues instead of promoting an all-organic diet — which an abundance of published research indicates would truly provide demonstrably lower exposure to toxic and carcinogenic chemicals.

A myriad of pesticide residues exist on and in fruits and vegetables the EWG recommends as “clean.” More than 40 percent of Clean 15 produce items are contaminated with toxic chemicals.