The Environmental Working Group released its annual report of what it calls the Dirty Dozen this week. The list ranks fruits and vegetables by the amount of pesticide residue detected. Pesticide on food? It sounds like something to worry about, but experts advise looking at the facts, such as the very small amount of pesticide found.

“Foods on the Dirty Dozen list pose no risks to consumers due to the extremely low levels of pesticides actually detected on those foods,” said Dr. Carl Winter, a Best Food Facts expert who was quoted in the Washington Post.

EWG advises consumers to only buy organic types of produces that it lists on the Dirty Dozen. Their advice, however, has had serious unintended consequences. A study by the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago found that confusion about the list has caused shoppers to buy less of all types of fruits and vegetables.

One possible reason is because organic produce often costs more. As Dr. Ruth MacDonald has shared with Best Food Facts, “There is a widely held thought that conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with pesticide and herbicide (chemical) residue. This is simply not supported by facts. The FDA and USDA routinely monitor the food supply for chemical residues and post results on their websites.”

Best Food Facts dietitians agree wholeheartedly with this from EWG: “Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is essential no matter how they’re grown.” The advice from dietitians is to wash all fruits and veggies under running tap water, then eat up – two to three cups of each per day.

Originally published March 10, 2017

_{“Harvest time: local farmers sell organic produce at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market” by University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment is licensed under CC BY.}

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Two of the additives on the list are butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and its chemical cousin butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). Both of these additives are generally regarded as safe (GRAS) by the FDA, but BHT recently made headlines for being a potentially harmful additive found in many popular breakfast cereals. To learn more about BHT and BHA, we reached out to expert Sean O’Keefe, PhD, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Dr. O’Keefe explained to us what exactly BHT and BHA are and why they are added to our food:

“BHA and BHT are phenolic chain-breaking antioxidants that prevent oxidative rancidity in foods. Oxidative rancidity results in destruction of vitamins and essential fatty acids, degradation of flavor, and production of free radicals that cause stress and damage to our bodies. There is evidence that aging effects are a result of accumulation of oxidation in our bodies. The phenolic antioxidants are added to foods that are sensitive to oxidation to prevent oxidation, so they are found in many places.”

According to the EWG, studies published by the European Food Safety Authority have shown that rats fed BHT have developed lung and liver tumors and that BHT has also been shown to cause developmental effects and thyroid changes in animals, suggesting that it may be able to disrupt endocrine signaling. But does this mean that it is a human carcinogen? Dr. O’Keefe referred us to a study conducted by theNational Toxicology Program that fed BHT at levels of 3000 and 6000 ppm to rats and mice. For reference, the legal limit for BHT in the fat in a food is 200 ppm. At much higher levels of 3000 and 6000 ppm, it was found that BHT was not carcinogenic for the rats or the mice.

After looking into the studies conducted on BHT, Dr. O’Keefe is not concerned about the additive and agrees with the FDA’s GRAS designation.

“Most of the information on grape seeds, green tea, goji, red wine, fruits and vegetables, etc., suggests they have positive health effects because of the antioxidant effects of their chemical constituents. Use of BHA and BHT improves the quality of our foods and improves their safety, from an oxidation standpoint.”

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Many of us choose organic foods because they are nutritious and delicious, but whether they’re healthier than conventionally-grown foods is a matter of debate. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine by Stanford University found that fruits and veggies labeled organic were no more nutritious than conventionally-grown fruits and veggies, on average. Check out our previous post on the study here.

Dr. Ruth MacDonald has also answered a question pertaining to the chemical use in non-organic food. According to Dr. MacDonald, “There is a widely held thought that conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with pesticide and herbicide (chemical) residue. This is simply not supported by facts. The FDA and USDA routinely monitor the food supply for chemical residues and post results on their websites.”

We created a post about the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15, providing a visual to help you understand the use of pesticides on crops and what our experts say. Drs. Carl Winter and Francisco Diez-Gonzalez rated whether organic food is better for human health here.

In short, studies have shown that organic food is not any more nutritious than conventionally-grown fruits and veggies, and concerns about chemical residue on conventionally-grown fruits and veggies is unwarranted. So whether organic food is worth the extra cost is entirely up to you!

Regardless of whether you choose to eat organic or conventionally-grown fruits and veggies, Dr. Julie Albrecht says the most important thing to remember is this: “Always rinse all fruits and veggies, no matter whether they are organic or not!”

_{“Small deluxe organic box” by Jessica Spengler is licensed under CC BY 2.0.}

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One of our go-to resources is the annual Pesticide Data Program (PDP) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Access the PDP’s report here.

Another one of our favorites is this handy pesticide residue calculator that tells you how many servings of the fruit or veggie of your choice you can eat without being concerned about pesticides. This one comes from the Alliance for Food and Farming– a non-profit organization comprised of both organic and conventional farmers. And don’t forget to wash your fruits and vegetables before eating them!

Still have questions? Submit it here and we’ll get an expert to respond.

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This just weeks after the USDA announced its new MyPlate dietary recommendations, which replaced the Food Pyramid. MyPlate directs consumers to fill half of their plate with fruits and vegetables, as a consumer, it’s confusing to be told to eat a diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables from one group, yet to see another group tell you that certain produce contains pesticides, so it should be bought only organically. Dr. Carl Winter, Associate Director of the FoodSafe Program and Extension Food Toxicologist at the University of California, Davis, researches the detection of pesticides and naturally-occurring toxins in foods. We talked with Dr. Winter to get down and dirty with the “dirty dozen.”

Research indicates that about 60 percent of consumers express a high level of concern about pesticide residues in their food. Is this a legitimate concern?

Dr. Winter:

We have a saying in toxicology “it’s the dose that makes the poison.” It’s the amount of the chemical rather than the presence or absence that determines the potential for harm. In the case of pesticide residues on food, we can detect them, but generally at very tiny levels. I think consumers are concerned because they’re aware that these chemicals, which have potential toxic effects, show up on foods. However, the levels at which we detect these pesticides are so low consumers have nothing to worry about.

Why are pesticides used? Are they being over-used?

Dr. Winter:

Pesticides are important in producing a lot of our food throughout the world, because there are many challenges in food production. We have problems with insects, weeds, and plant diseases. All of these can severely impact the ability to produce a crop to make it available to consumers. Pesticides are one of many options that farmers will use to try and combat these pests.

As far as overuse, we’re finding many cases where pesticides are still the primary way to achieve a good level of control over these pests. There is a lot of research being done throughout the world showing that there may be others ways to control these pests without pesticides. And I’m for that as well. I think the best approach is to use pesticides judiciously when they represent the best option, but to consider all the options that can be used to produce our crops.

What kind of safeguards are in place to protect us from pesticides?

Dr. Winter:

The Environmental Protection Agency is the primary regulatory industry that will not permit the use of a pesticide if the pesticide may pose a risk to consumers. They have a standard where they guarantee a reasonable certainty of no harm. In making that guarantee, they look at the results of toxicology tests and try to identify the most significant toxicological effects these chemicals may cause. If they find there might be a risk to consumers, they are not going to allow the pesticide be used at all.

If food is labeled organic is it guaranteed to be pesticide-free?

Dr. Winter:

No. Organic food production allows the use of several EPA registered pesticides, mostly being of natural origin. Some studies claim that you are much less likely to find pesticide residue in organic foods; some surveys found nearly 30% of the samples tested had some detectable level of pesticides, even in organic foods. I don’t think this should be something of concern to people purchasing organic foods, because the levels we are finding in these foods (just as in conventional foods) again are extremely low, and not of potential health concern.

An organization called the Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently released its “Dirty Dozen” list of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables. What are your thoughts on this group’s rating system?

Dr. Winter:

My major concern about their approach to the study is they don’t ask the right questions, which are:

1. How much of these pesticides are actually showing up on these foods
2. What level of exposure might consumers expect from these foods?

I recently published a review of the 10 most common pesticides EWG tested on each of the top 12 “most contaminated” fruits and veggies. What I found in the vast majority of cases was that our typical exposure to pesticides from those foods was generally a million times lower than doses that haven’t even caused affects in animals. In short, even for the “most contaminated” produce on their list, the level of pesticide exposure is incredibly low.

Another group, the Alliance for Food and Farming*, has developed a pesticide calculator that they say tells us how many servings of fruits and vegetables would have to be eaten in order to experience health effects from pesticide-contaminated food. In your opinion, is it scientifically viable?

Dr. Winter:

I think what the Alliance has done is a simple approach that will demonstrate that “the dose makes the poison,” and to put things in perspective. The calculator illustrates the major point, which is, pesticide residues are present in the food supply, but are present at levels which are so low there shouldn’t be any consumer risk. The important thing consumers should recognize is they need to eat a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, whether they’re organic or conventional. That’s the best thing they can do for their health.

Below is a screenshot of the calculator that the Alliance for Food and Farming has on http://safefruitsandveggies.com/*

*We are not affiliated with SafeFruitsandVeggies.com nor the Alliance for Food and Farming. We just think the calculator is a great, fact-based resource that helps us understand how pesticide use impacts our food.

_{“Celery&Onion” by Anastasia R is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0..}

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