The Worst Foods For Pesticides May Surprise You!

Knowing the worst foods for pesticides will help you know what to buy organic next time you go shopping

By Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

As the weather grows warmer, most of us will be eating more salads and fruits, which is a good thing. But did you know that some produce carries more pesticide than others?

That’s important to know, because pesticides have been linked to some serious diseases.

Pesticides and Cancer

Pesticides have been linked to a wide range of health problems, ranging from headaches and nausea to cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption. Children are especially sensitive to these chemicals. In fact, they’ve been linked to the rise in both autism and Attention Deficit Disorder.

Even more frighteningly, pesticides can cause many types of cancer in humans. Some of the most prevalent forms of cancer known to be caused by pesticides include:

• leukemia
• non-Hodgkins lymphoma
• brain
• bone
• breast
• ovarian
• prostate
• testicular
• liver

Unsurprisingly, these diseases have been shown to be especially prevalent in farmers who use pesticides.

Hormones Gone Awry

Have you noticed there’s more gender confusion around now than ever? It could be related to pesticides.

That’s right: there is mounting evidence that exposure to pesticides disrupts the endocrine system. This wreaks havoc with the delicate regulation of hormones, the reproductive system, and embryonic development.

Endocrine disruption can produce infertility and a variety of birth defects and developmental defects in offspring. These include:

• hormonal imbalances and incomplete sexual development
• impaired brain development
• behavioral disorders

and many others.

Examples of known endocrine disrupting chemicals which are present in large quantities in our environment include DDT (which still persists in abundance more than 20 years after being banned in the EU and USA), lindane, atrazine, carbaryl, parathion, and many others.

Not Just On Food

The worst foods for pesticides isn’t the only thing we should be watching out for. Pesticides also enter our groundwater and air. They cause genetic mutations in the insect world, which eventually affect creatures higher up on the food chain.

Most worryingly, in genetically modified foods, some of the most prevalent pesticides are actually built right into the plant, and can’t be washed off!

And it’s not just pesticides we need to be concerned about. Non-organic animal based foods may contain antibiotics and growth hormones, injected into the animals to improve yields and to their susceptibility to viruses.

The Solution Is Organic

Apart from being less harmful due to not carrying a load of heavy chemicals, organic food has been proven to contain higher levels of nutrients than non-organic food, with lower levels of nitrates and containing more antioxidants.

While we believe it’s important to eat organic whenever possible, if you must choose only a selected few foods, Eluxe has made a list of the 10 worst foods for pesticides, which you should really buy organic whenever possible.

The Worst Foods for Pesticides & What To Avoid

1. All Non-Organic Meat

More than any vegetable on the list below, meat of any kind is number one for carrying a heavy pesticide, fungicide and antibiotic load. It makes sense when you consider that the plants animals are fed are sprayed with pesticides–and not washed afterwards.

Moreover, genetically modified soy and corn feed is the dietary staple for most commercially farmed pigs, cows, chickens and sheep.

As the animals we eat are living in cramped quarters, they tend to get sick, so residues of antibiotics and other drugs, E. coli, salmonella, and of course, fungicides, herbicides and pesticides show up in almost all meat and chicken. Study after study shows animal flesh is probably one of the most toxic foods you can consume.

Our advice? Go vegan. Seriously.

2. Berries

Berries may be tasty and full of nutrition, but they are also one of the most contaminated products in the world. Their soft skin means the chemicals permeate the fruit most easily, and as they lie on the ground, they often linger in pools of chemicals.

In the USA, strawberries are the crop that is most heavily dosed with pesticides. On average, 300 pounds of pesticides are applied to every acre of strawberries (compared to an average of 25 pounds per acre for other foods). Thirty-six different pesticides are commonly used on strawberries, and 90% of strawberries tested register pesticide contamination above safe levels.

Raspberries have even more chemicals than strawberries, with the application of 39 chemicals. In fact, in one study, 58% of the raspberries tested registered positive for contamination. The same study found cherries were almost as bad, containing 25 pesticides and 91% contamination. Be especially careful of frozen berries and cherries, which are often not washed well before freezing.

Given that in their organic state, berries provide powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer benefits, we think it’s worth wolfing these down by the handful–if they’re organic.

3. Apples

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is only true if it’s organic, since this fruit usually is one of the most sprayed with pesticides. We recommend you look-out for the apples from New Zealand, which are treated with half as many pesticides as others, if you don’t want to end up like Snow White: in one study, 91%  of apples tested positive for pesticide residue. Peeling nonorganic apples reduces but does not eliminate the danger of ingesting these chemicals. Pears rank hazardously near apples with 35 pesticides and 94% contamination.

4. Soft Fruit (like grapes and peaches)

Grapes and peaches, just like other thin skinned fruit that ripen quickly, tend to mould and attract insects. To prevent this, most growers put multiple applications of various chemicals. As a result, soft fruits often  contain the highest amount of pesticides, and their thin skin means that after they’re subjected to pesticides and herbicides, these substances really sink into the fruit–peeling makes no difference. Organic is really the only way to go here, but the good news is that in most climates, it’s easy to grow your own grape vines, even on a balcony or urban terrace.

5. Cucumbers

In a survey of 42 common vegetables, cucumbers were ranked second in cancer risk and 12th in “most contaminated food” by the Environmental Working Group, a respected public-interest group. Make sure to peel the cucumbers, since the waxes used to make the skin shiny also tend to hold chemicals.

6. Potatoes

Potatoes may seem harmless as they grow underground, but are often subjected to pesticides after harvesting. They also often soak up fungicides sprayed on the soil as well. Given their popularity, it’s a real shame that potatoes are one of the worst foods for pesticides! Go for the organic version and save yourself from consuming these unwanted chemicals.

7. Spinach and Leafy Greens

Worms love these leaves, and to keep them for human consumption, pesticide is often sprayed. It’s often difficult to wash these chemicals off the nooks and crannies of each leaf, so they end up inside you. Unfortunately, the chemicals used to treat greens are suspected of causing cancer and interfering with hormone production. Celery, lettuce, arugula, and even kale have all been found to have high levels of pesticide residues. If you love your greens, going organic is a must!

8. Milk (and all dairy products)

Dairy is always touted as being a bone-building, healthy food, but the truth is quite different–dairy can seriously harm your health.

Nowadays, cows are often fed genetically modified corn – and no one really knows the health effects this can have on not only the animal, but those who consume animal products. Even cows fed on grass have been found to have  milk with measurable quantities of herbicides, pesticides, dioxins (up to 200 times the safe levels), powerful antibiotics, not to mention blood, pus, feces, bacteria and viruses.

Many dieticians advise foregoing dairy altogether, and we tend to agree. Just avoid it.

9. Coffee

Oh, it’s a sad fact for us coffee lovers, but this bean is one of the most intensively sprayed crops around. Why? Normally, coffee is grows on bushes naturally in the shade, but to increase production, most large coffee makers cut down huge swaths of the rainforest (hello, Nestle!) and douse the beans with chemicals to grow coffee more quickly.

But don’t worry: there are plenty of ways to get a healthy cup of morning sunshine! Organic coffee is becoming more mainstream as the public demands food staples with fewer chemicals. Just be aware that FairTrade does NOT mean the brand is organic–it refers only to the price farmers are paid for their work.

If you can’t find organic, certified shade-grown coffee is the next best thing.

10. Wheat In General

For all those Italian-food fans out there, addicted to pizza, bread and pasta beware: seven spaghetti brands – out of 15 tested – have been found to contain high levels of pesticides, through a survey carried out by the Swiss Network RTS and the magazine ‘Bon à  Savoir.’ Five of these contain pirimifos-methyl (a very powerful insecticide), that’s used to preserve wheat in silos. Combino, Reggano, Barilla, La Pasta di Flavio and Prix Garantie are the brands that rated highest in contaminants. As you will notice the first four are Italian, whilst the other faulty pasta label is Swiss. These are joined by the remaining two: Qualite & Priz and Denner, which had traces of the insecticide Cypermethrin-acaricides.

Another reason to avoid not just pasta, but wheat in general, is the presence of  glyphosate. This toxic pesticide is banned in a few EU countries but may sneak into exported processed foods – and let’s face it, what doesn’t contain wheat these days? Glyphosate could be lurking in anything from your pizza base to your tomato soup. The reason it’s so prevalent in wheat products is because it’s one of the most used products by wheat growers for controlling grass weeds prior to planting or after the wheat is harvested

On the positive side, all organic pastas tested proved to be completely safe, as did these popular brands: De Cecco, Garofalo and Barilla’s Whole Grain Pasta.

Just keep in mind  that ALL wheat – be it white or whole grain – is likely to have pesticide residue unless it’s organic.

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Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

Senior Features Writer at Eluxe Magazine

Based in Italy, our Features Writer Chiara is also a film critic and an award-winning artist, with a special interest in eco-art. You can see her work and learn more about her here.

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