April 10, 2018

EWG Releases “Dirty Dozen” List, Again Targeting Strawberries & Spinach

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released their annual “Dirty Dozen” list yesterday, and once again, the group targeted strawberries and spinach as having the most pesticide residues. The EWG has a reputation of misleading consumers about pesticide residues and produce, and year over year, their list has been repeatedly discredited by scientists and peer reviewed studies.

According to sampling data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 99 percent of residues on fruits and vegetables, when present at all, are well below safety levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency. FDA sampling shows that 50 percent of the foods sampled had no detectable residues at all.

“For over two decades the authors of this list have inaccurately disparaged healthy and safe fruits and veggies to the detriment of consumers,” said the Alliance for Food and Farming in a press release.  “Since a farmer’s first consumer is his or her own family, providing safe and wholesome food is always their priority.  Consumers should be reassured by the farmers’ commitment to food safety and government reports that verify that safety year after year.”

As part of an ongoing commitment to disseminate correct facts about fresh produce safety, the Alliance for Food and Farming encourages consumers to visit safefruitsandveggies.com to obtain science-based information about the safety of organic and conventional produce.