It may be Popeye’s source of supernatural strength, but spinach apparently can’t fight off bugs as effectively as the sailor fights off his adversaries. For the second consecutive year, spinach topped the Dirty Dozen list of conventionally grown produce with the most residual pesticides.
Published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) annually since 2004, the list is based on data from the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program, which tests agricultural commodities. The program mimics the routine for produce in consumers’ kitchens, typically rinsing it for 15–20 seconds, before testing for pesticides.
While EWG publishes the list every year, the USDA does not test all categories of produce annually, so it relies on the most recent USDA test—which in spinach dates back a decade to 2016. At the time, the USDA tested 642 conventional spinach samples and found an average of seven pesticides on each. Some samples had as many as 19 different pesticides or their byproducts on a single sample.
Kale, collard greens, and mustard greens collectively ranked second on the Dirty Dozen list, followed by strawberries, grapes, and nectarines. For items on the list, EWG suggests buying organic or frozen versions, and diligence in washing all fruits and vegetables thoroughly.
Crop top: Naturally the farmers who grow the crops on the Dirty Dozen list are not fans.
The report “once again villainizes safe, healthy, and affordable fruits and vegetables by misrepresenting USDA pesticide data,” the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF), a nonprofit trade group for both conventional and organic farmers, said in a statement.
The group also noted that while the USDA may find residual levels of pesticides, “more than 99%” of all produce the the agency tests have pesticide levels “well below the stringent safety standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.”
Citing a 2022 CDC study that only about 1 in 10 US adults meets suggested dietary guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption, the AFF also dings the Dirty Dozen list for exacerbating the problem.
“Lower-income and cost-conscious consumers do not respond to the EWG report by purchasing only organic products,” AFF asserted. “Instead, they are increasingly likely to avoid fruits and vegetables altogether.”
Consumers, meanwhile, are not of one mind about how worried they should be about pesticides.
A 2024 International Food Information Council survey asked consumers if they agreed with the statement that the benefits of eating produce grown with pesticides outweighs the risks.
While 29% agreed that the benefits outweighed the risk, 30% disagreed.
This report was originally published by Retail Brew.