What a Dietitian Thinks of the Dirty Dozen List

What a dietitian thinks about the dirty dozen list

Every year the Environmental Working Group releases its Dirty Dozen list which is supposedly a list of the 12 fruits and veggies with more pesticide residues than others. The purpose is to encourage the consumption of organic versions of these foods. Sorry to tell you, the dirty dozen list is wrong. Very wrong. This post is designed to share with you what a dietitian thinks of the Dirty Dozen List based on actual scientific evidence.

Usually, when the list comes out, it just makes me sad, but this year, I’m angry. Angry because peer reviewed research found that the substitution of organic forms of produce for conventional forms, as suggested in the “dirty dozen” list, does not result in any decrease in consumer risk because residues, if present at all, are so low. This study also found that the dirty dozen list authors follow NO established scientific procedures in developing this list. Click here for the reference.

Dr. Carl Winter, Professor Emeritus of Toxicology, University of California, Davis says, “To accurately assess consumer risks from pesticides, one needs to consider three major factors  1) the amount of residue on the foods, 2) the amount of food consumed, and 3) the toxicity of the pesticides. The methodology used by the Environmental Working Group (authors of the “dirty dozen” list) ignores all three.”

Did you know that only 1 in 10 Americans consumes enough produce? The annual Dirty Dozen List names the 12 fruits and veggies with the 'highest' pesticide residues. Find out what this dietitian thinks about this list. Share on X
I’m also disheartened because according to the CDC, 1 in 10 Americans consumes the recommended amount of produce per day. 1 in 10! And useless information like this only deters people from eating fruits and veggies which enhance immune function and prevent illness. Now more than ever, we need our fruits and veggies! Misleading messaging perpetuated in the “dirty dozen” list which inaccurately describes certain produce items as having “higher” pesticide residues results in lower income consumers stating they would be less likely to purchase ANY fruits and vegetables – organically or conventionally grown. On a human level, that’s criminal.

In reality, the most recent USDA Pesticide Data Program report found over 99 percent of the produce samples tested had residues well below the safety standards established by the EPA with almost half having NO detectable pesticide residues at all. A child could eat 7,746 servings of kale in a day and still not have any health effects from residues, according to an analysis by toxicologists with the University of California’s Personal Chemical Exposure Program. As a woman, I could consume 4716 servings of peaches in one day without any effect even if the peaches have the highest pesticide residue recorded for peaches by USDA. Check out the calculator for yourself and test our your favorite fruits and veggies for each member of your family.

Why is this so important?

Did you know? If just half of all Americans increased their consumption of a fruit or vegetable by ONE serving each day, 20,000 cancer cases could be prevented every year, according to peer reviewed research.  That’s incredible! Fruits and veggies are nutrition powerhouses and we need them to prevent chronic disease. All those colors of the rainbow are powerful phytochemicals and antioxidants we need to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and more.

Studies and Surveys Show This List Negatively Impacts Consumers and Produce Consumption.

And that’s dangerous for everyone.

• A study published in Nutrition Today found that when low income consumers heard inaccurate claims about “high” residues on produce and the “dirty dozen” list, they stated they were less likely to purchase any produce – organic or conventionally grown.
• In a recent survey among registered dietitians/nutritionists (RDNs), 94% agreed that fear-based messaging regarding pesticides has a negative impact on consumers because it causes misplaced concern about whether conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are safe to eat. This fear-mongering is unnecessary and unjustified.
• When shown infographics and other content carrying inaccurate messaging about residues and produce safety from the “dirty dozen” list authors, the RDN survey found an overwhelming 95% agreed that this type of communication discourages produce consumption.

Remember how only 1 in 10 Americans consumes the recommended amount of produce per day? It’s a public health nightmare for those of us who work so hard to help people improve the quality of their diets. 

For those of you who are concerned about glyphosate:

In a perfect world, we could grow all our food without any chemicals. Unfortunately, insects and weeds are pests which rob plants of water, sunlight and nutrients, and can have a devastating impact on food production. Every year, as much as 40 percent of the world’s potential harvests are lost to damaging insects, weeds and plant diseases. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), these losses could double without pesticides and other crop protection practices. As part of their toolbox, most farmers, both organic and conventional, use some type of pesticide.

All pesticides are regulated for a safe threshold and farmers want to use the least amount of pesticides possible to minimize costs and ensure safe food. There is an extensive body of research on glyphosate including more than 800 rigorous studies submitted to regulatory authorities in connection with the registration process, that confirms that these products can be used safely as directed.

In addition, the largest and most recent epidemiologic study – the 2018 independent National Cancer Institute-supported long-term study that followed over 50,000 pesticide applicators for more than 20 years found no association between glyphosate-based herbicides and cancer.

Does that mean we should happily eat lots of glyphosate? No, of course not. But the headlines you read intending to scare you away from conventionally grown food are not based in science. It would be literally impossible to feed the world with only organically grown food, the crop yields cannot produce enough that way.

I know we are focusing on fruits and veggies here, but I bet you saw the recent news articles claiming there are high levels of glyphosate in Cheerios. Well, not exactly. The same Environmental Working Group who releases the Dirty Dozen list, came up with this misinformation campaign. They are funded by organic food companies, so there’s that little nugget of bias. (These are companies I like and purchase from for my family, so this is not about them. Just that there is motivation to skew information.) This video explains why the math just does not add up and the claims made by the EWG are untrue.

Here’s the math:

The EPA says a 154 pound person can safely consume 140mg of glyphosate per day with no short or long term health effects.

The European Food Safety Authority set their safety limit at 35mg/day.
California, known for the most stringent safety standards, set theirs at 1.1mg/day which is 127x lower than the national standard.

And, the Environmental Working Group used a threshold level of 0.01mg/day which is 100 times lower than California’s already super low proposed level. Hmmm?

There are 0.01mg of glyphosate per 1 ounce bowl of Cheerios. Kind of convenient that this is exactly the amount the EWG set as their very arbitrary safety level.

Even by California’s super low threshold, you would have to eat 79 bowls of Cheerios per day, 2518 bowls per day per European standards and 10,072 bowls to reach the US safety standard. Um, no. Can everyone see how this Cheerios stunt by the EWG is fear-mongering and not science-based information backed by any research?

This is only one example of how numbers can be skewed to create a narrative. So, eat your Cheerios. Even California says it’s ok. I support both organic and conventional farmers, anyone who works hard to feed the planet. Just remember that organic farming requires pesticides too, bugs and weeds are equal opportunity invaders. 

What if you are still worried about pesticides?

Consumers who are concerned about residues are advised to simply wash their fresh produce – organic and conventionally grown. According to the Federal Food and Drug Administration, washing fresh fruits and vegetables under running tap water is a healthful habit and can help remove or eliminate any residues that may be present on fruits and vegetables.

So please ignore this useless, scientifically baseless list and eat all forms of fruits and veggies including fresh, frozen, dried and canned with confidence that you are making a good choice for overall health.😊And if you insist on organic, that’s ok too. You do you. Just make sure that you eat enough produce regardless of the source. 

For more information visit safefruitsandveggies.com. Thank you to the Alliance for Food and Farming and Produce for Better Health for supporting farmers, protecting consumers and providing science-based information.

#NoMoreDirtyDozen, #EatMoreProduce, #FactsNotFears

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What this dietitian thinks about the dirty dozen list!