You buy organic fruit and vegetables because you think you’re avoiding pesticides that way – but there are some that are coated with as much chemicals as the cheaper, non-organic fare, and now we know what they are.
Organic peaches are, by far, the most likely to be laden with pesticides, followed closely by apples and bell peppers, according to a survey carried out by the Environmental Working Group. The group measured the pesticide load of the fruit and vegetables according to the state in which we eat them; apples, for example, were washed first, and avocados were peeled, and so on. Despite the protective skin, many that were tested still had high pesticide levels. “It’s really hard to use your intuition to figure out what’s going to have a high pesticide load. Skin is something to take into account, but it doesn’t always make a huge difference,” said EWG spokesperson Amy Rosenthal.
(Source: Environmental Working Group website: http://www.ewg.org/).