Dirty Dozen
Clean Fifteen
The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen
The Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen refer to the fruits and vegetables that are most and least contaminated by pesticide use. And why should we care about pesticides? Because pesticides are toxic by design and have been linked to numerous health problems. This guide is designed to help you dictate your organic vs. non-organic purchases. That said, eating non-organic fruits and vegetables, is ALWAYS a better option than eating processed food, so please don't avoid conventionally grown produce if that's all that's available to you!!
DIRTY DOZEN
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
+ Hot Peppers
+ Kale / Collards
CLEAN FIFTEEN
1. Sweet Corn*
2. Avocados
3. Pineapples
4. Cabbage
5. Onions
6. Frozen Sweet Peas
7. Papayas*
8. Asparagus
9. Mangos
10. Eggplant
11. Honeydew Melon
12. Kiwi
13. Cantaloupe
14. Cauliflower
15. Grapefruit
* A small amount of sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States
is produced from GMO seedstock. Buy organic varieties of these crops if you want to avoid GMO produce.