There weren't many changes in the Environmental Working Group's (EWG) 2010 lists of the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 fruits and vegetables from last year (download the newest wallet-sized list). You could make a very convincing argument, however, that expanding both to 18 or 20 would've captured most of the foods listed for the past two years.
EWG issues these lists every spring, based on the amount of pesticides contained in vegetables and fruits, to a great deal of media hoopla, and deservedly so. This non-profit watchdog has made it very easy to clip these lists to your weekly grocery lists, or in our case to download both as a free iPhone app (the 2010 lists aren't yet available as an app), to safeguard your health.
For the record, lettuce, carrots and pears were replaced on the Dirty Dozen list with potatoes, blueberries (domestically grown) and spinach. On the Clean 15 list, honeydew melons, grapefruit and cantaloupes replaced papayas, tomatoes and broccoli.
But, if you take a look at the entire list of 49 fruits and vegetables, you'll see that adding six more to both the dirty and clean lists would've included all but one from last year's groups. Yes, we're splitting hairs a tiny bit, but not the inherent value of these lists, which should be a HUGE wake-up call for you to seek out locally grown and organic foods as often as you can. And, be especially careful to avoid the dirty foods that may infiltrate your grocery store too.
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Yahoo Green April 28, 2010