Do the Dirty Dozen foods and Clean 15 lists influence your fruit buying decisions? Pesticides in fruit are nothing to fear- follow along my journey touring California farms and learn everything you need to know to shop confidently with facts not fear!
Thank you to the Alliance for Food and Farming for sponsoring this post and my trip to California for the Safe Fruits and Veggies Farm Tour! All opinions are my own.
Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS RDN enjoying sweet grapes off of the vine at Jasmine Vineyards in California
I stood in a glistening, picturesque California orchard and gently picked a perfect piece of sweet, juicy fruit right from the tree. This is magical, I thought. Simply glorious. Then my joyful moment was interrupted by a sadness that invaded my thoughts. How could anyone be scared enough of pesticides in fruit that they choose to avoid enjoying nature’s beautiful bounty on purpose? It happens more than I would like to admit, and usually because of misinformation shared in the news and on social media. I’m here to correct that misinformation and empower you to make the best purchasing decisions for your family.
I have a shocking fact for you. If half of all Americans added one more serving of fruits and veggies in their daily diet, 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented each year! YES! Cheers for produce! It’s mind boggling to me that despite their amazingness, only 1 in 10 of us eats the daily recommended servings of fruits and veggies. That’s why I feel heat coming out of my cheeks when I see “influencers” fear mongering about the Dirty Dozen foods and Clean 15 lists which are not supported by science! Yes, I said it. This myth needs major busting.
What are the Dirty Dozen Foods and Clean 15 lists?
These are lists of fruits and veggies that supposedly contain the highest and lowest pesticide residues to influence your purchasing and eating habits, theoretically encouraging you to buy organic versions of the foods with “higher” levels. The problem is research shows that the authors follow NO established scientific procedures in developing these nonsense lists. All it does is wrongly discourage people from consuming more fruits and veggies.
The truth is, pesticide residues are so low, if present at all, a child could eat 100’s to 1000’s of servings of a fruit or veggie in a day and not have any health effects from residues!
And there’s a tool for that. To learn more about how low residues are, if present at all, consumers can use the pesticide residue calculator at safefruitsandveggies.com. The calculator is based upon an analysis by toxicologists with the University of California’s Personal Chemical Exposure Program. As an example, a child could consume 7441 servings of kale in a single day without any impacts from residues. Wow!
An insider’s look at California farming
Why am I so confident in the safety of our produce? Because I’ve been so honored to attend several media trips to tour many types of farms in several states and speaking directly to farmers is the best way to ask the tough questions about farming practices. Believe me when I tell you, farmers are rockstars!
Last month, I giddily toured several breathtaking farms in hot and sunny central California as a guest of the Alliance for Food and Farming. Eight fellow media dietitians and I geeked out as we were immersed in citrus groves, peach orchards and table grape vineyards, observing and learning about growing practices and farming challenges as we followed the fruit from the fields to the packaging facilities on the same day. Tip: the secret to the best product is picking and processing fruit within 24 hours.
Citrus packinghouse tour and juice tasting at Porterville Citrus
Farmers are SMART!
It’s a high tech endeavor to run a modern-day farm! Irrigation, temperature control, pest control, thinning and pruning the trees, and harvesting are all critical to success. The automation and technology farmers need to use are so fascinating and complex, they need expertise in computer systems and robotics!
Many farms are family owned and are over 100 years old. They take great pride in their multi-generational farms and aim to grow the kind of fruit that they are proud to feed their family and friends and to give back to the community at large. Sustainability is top of mind to preserve precious natural resources as well as to create better jobs for this generation by using new technologies for growing and harvesting.
While touring HMC Farms in Kingsburg, CA, I asked Drew Ketelson how a farmer would respond to concerns about the Dirty Dozen list. This video beautifully explains what I try to share with my readers and clients on a regular basis. He passionately discusses how farms are highly regulated and use pest management systems that only apply pest control applications as needed. Unlike decades ago, there is no longer preventive spraying for no reason which is unnecessary and costly. He has no worries when his own children walk right up to any of his trees to pick and eat a piece of fruit. If the fruit is safe for the farmer’s children, it’s safe for yours. 🙂
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The Olympics of Fruit?
Well, sort of. We had a blast participating in the “Olympics of Fruit” at the Family Tree Farms research center! We were each given 11 varieties of fruit to taste test and award our three favorites with a gold, silver or bronze medal. Many of these are new and not yet available on the market! Lucky us 🙂
The clear winners were Plapples (a hybrid of a plum and apple) and 2 varieties of Pluots (a hybrid of a plum and apricot). The texture and mix of just a little tart to balance the sweet was sensational!
The Olympics of Fruit at Family Tree Farms
Fun facts about grapes from California
Our next adventure brought us to Jasmine Vineyards where we immersed ourselves (literally) in grape vines and learned all about how they are grown and harvested. Workers carefully check each bunch to cut away any fruit that looks less than amazing and they are packaged right at the end of the row. These farm workers are so dedicated and the farmers make sure they are well compensated and cared for. Here are some nuggets we learned…
- 99% of the table grapes grown in the US are grown in California in Coachella Valley and San Joaquin Valley. There are 80+ varieties of colors, shapes and sizes with about 50 million boxes of grapes coming out of central California.
- The white substance you see on grapes is called the “bloom” and it’s a natural wax that develops on the grapes to reduce water loss.
- Grapes cannot be washed BEFORE packaging because it will cause damage. In fact, rain on ripe grapes that have not yet been harvested is problematic. Takeaway- while water is essential for growth, water at the wrong time is detrimental to the harvest.
Mandy Enright, Heather Mangieri and Lauren Harris-Pincus picking grapes from California at Jasmine Vineyards in Delano, CA.
Health Benefits of Grapes
No lie, a dietitian serving as my preceptor during my dietetic internship training called grapes “the junk food of fruit.” This was before the publication of enormous amounts of evidence supporting the health benefits of grapes! I’ve got a great summary of just some of the research below:
Grapes and Heart Health
- Grapes support heart health by promoting the relaxation of blood vessels to help maintain healthy circulation.
- Women who consumed 1 1⁄4 cups of grapes every day benefited from reduced blood triglyceride levels, LDL cholesterol levels, inflammatory proteins, and other markers of heart disease.
- Men with metabolic syndrome who consumed 1 1⁄2 cups of grapes every day reduced blood pressure, improved blood vessel function, and decreased a key marker of inflammation.
Grapes and Immune Health:
- Natural grape compounds, including antioxidants and other polyphenols, help protect the health and function of cells.
- Studies suggest that resveratrol and certain flavonoids found in grapes may positively influence immune function.
- Studies have shown that adding heart-healthy grapes to your diet every day also helps support brain, colon, and skin health; maintaining healthy bodily systems is essential to defend against illness.
- Grapes are a good source of vitamin K and a natural source of melatonin, a compound that helps regulate sleep cycles.
Grapes and Brain Health
- Grapes maintain a healthy brain and may help protect against metabolic decline in the brain associated with natural aging.
- Consuming about 2 1⁄4 cups of grapes every day preserved healthy metabolic activity in regions of the brain associated with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, where metabolic decline takes hold.
Grapes and Colon Health:
Grapes help promote a healthy colon and may help promote greater diversity of gut bacteria which contributes to good health overall- subjects consuming 1 1⁄2 cups of grapes every day for 4 weeks increased the microbial diversity in the gut
Grapes and Skin Health:
- Grapes of all colors are a natural source of beneficial antioxidants and other polyphenols that help protect the health and function of the body’s cells, including skin.
- Subjects consuming 2 1⁄4 cups of grapes every day for two weeks showed increased resistance to sunburn and a reduction in markers of UV damage at the cellular level.
Halloween Witch’s fingers with Moon Drop grapes
Moon Drop Grapes make awesome Halloween Witch’s Fingers
Did you know that a grape is a berry?? My mind was blown. We learned so much while visiting Jasmine Vineyards in Delano, California. But the best part was the incredible grape filled lunch we shared inside the vast warehouse.
This is where my grape appreciation was forever changed- I was introduced to Moon Drop grapes! These incredibly sweet and unique grapes are very dark- almost black. And they are shaped like, well, fingers. So I instantly had the idea to make a Halloween treat out of these sweet, spooky beauties! I carried a whole bag all the way from California to NJ carefully nestled in my backpack. Who knew if I would ever find these gems again. Lo and behold, they are available in the supermarket at the bottom of my street, lol!
These 3-ingredient, 3-minute Witch’s Fingers are a healthy Halloween treat that will cause kids and adults alike to scream with delight! You only need Moon Drop grapes, a bit of cream cheese or dairy free cream cheese and sliced almonds to create these fabulously creepy delights.
Fun facts about California Oranges:
Our whirlwind immersion concluded at Farmer Bob’s World with a tractor-driven informational tour and a magical dinner in the middle of a beautiful citrus grove at sunset. The farm-to-table experience is such an amazing way to connect with nature and truly appreciate the dedication of farmers and workers who make sure we get to serve our families the delicious and safe produce they work so hard to provide. Check out some intriguing tidbits we picked up along the way about California citrus…
- Orange trees are unhappy when the temperature dips below 27 degrees, and if it gets too cold, the sugar in the oranges can crystalize. The solution? Farmers use wind machines to raise the grove temperatures 3-5 degrees when needed.
- Some things are simple. Farmers use netting on trees to keep mandarins seedless! The netting prevents bees from pollinating the fruit. Fascinating, right?
- I was shocked to learn that oranges can actually get sunburned! Farmers can apply sunscreen but it’s costly.
Dinner in a California orange grove
Media dietitians enjoy a perfect sunset and farm-to-table dinner in a California citrus grove
How to remove pesticides from fruit and vegetables
California farms are highly regulated and use as little pesticide application as possible. We happily sampled California fruit right off the trees and vines- there’s something so glorious about cutting your own bunch of California grapes right off of the vine and enjoying them amidst the beautiful landscape. If you are at all concerned about minimizing pesticide residues, a simple rinse with plain water is all you need.
According to the FDA, washing fresh produce before eating is a healthful habit. You can reduce and often eliminate
pesticide residues if they are present on fresh produce by washing them under running tap water.
The Bottom Line: Facts not Fear!
With only 1 in 10 Americans getting their recommended daily dose of fruits and veggies to support immune function and prevent illnesses, maybe we should all be celebrating every single unique fruit and veggie instead of discouraging their consumption with fear based tactics like the Dirty Dozen foods list. Mic drop.
Want to learn more? Check out the plethora of information available through The Alliance for Food and Farming. This organization supports ALL farmers; conventional, organic and those in the process of converting to organic so I trust the evidence-based info they share.
References:
Zern, T.L., Wood, J.R., Greene, C. West, K.L., Liu, Y., Aggarwal, D., Shachter, N.S., & Fernandez, M.L. (2005). Grape polyphenols exert a cardioprotective effect in pre- and postmenopausal women by lowering plasma lipids and reducing oxidative stress. Journal of Nutrition, 135, 1911-1917.
Barona, J., Aristizabal, J.D., Blesso, C.N., Volek, J.S., & Fernandez, M.L. (2012). Grape polyphenols reduce blood pressure and increase flow-mediated vasodilation in men with metabolic syndrome. Journal of Nutrition, 1-7
Lee, J.K., Torsyan, N., & Silverman, D.H. (2017). Examining the impact of grape consumption on brain metabolism and cognitive function in patients with mild decline in cognition: a double-blinded placebo-controlled pilot study. Experimental Gerontology, 87 (Pt A):121-128.
Oak, A.S.W., Shafi, R., Elsayed, M., Mishra, B., Bae, S., Barnes, S., Slominksi, A.T., Wilson, L.S., Athar, M., & Elmets, C.A. (2021). Dietary table grape protects against UV photodamage in humans: 2. molecular evaluation. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2021.01.036
PIN FOR LATER!
Are you worried about pesticides in fruit? Does the Dirty Dozen foods list affect the way you shop for produce? Shop confidently with facts not fear!
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