‘Dirty Dozen’ list of ‘pesticide-poisoned’ fruits, vegetables used to be her bible, but Huffington Post food writer now sees it as more scare than science

It’s that time of year again, when the nonprofit advocacy organization Environmental Working Group publishes its annual list of the 12 fruits and vegetables most contaminated by pesticide residue.

…

[According to plant pathologist Steve Savage,] “99.85 percent of the residues that are detected are below the already conservative ‘tolerances’ that are set by the EPA.” In fact, a 2011 study in The Journal of Toxicology found that levels of pesticides in the Dirty Dozen all fell below the EPA limit ― sometimes 1,000 ― or even an astounding 30,000-fold under the limit.