I am a registered dietitian who believes that any form of fruits and vegetables are healthy – organic or conventional. However, there are so many myths surrounding pesticides and fruits and vegetables that it’s mind boggling for consumers to wade through the confusion …. Here’s …. what you should know about pesticide residues and fruits and vegetables.
[Editor’s note: Toby Amidor is a registered dietician and cookbook author.]
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The [USDA] recently released its latest (2018) Pesticide Data Program (PDP) results. The findings were consistent with past results, and complementary to other state and federal testing programs. The summary showed more than 99% of the samples tested had pesticide residues well below benchmark levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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The Alliance for Food and Farming has created a fabulous tool called the “Pesticide Residue Calculator” to help consumers calculate the amount of fresh produce they would need to consume in order to exceed the EPAs pesticide residue benchmarks. For example, a woman could consume 453 servings of strawberries in one day without any effect even if the strawberries have the highest pesticide residue recorded for strawberries. With 8 strawberries per serving, that would mean eating a total of 3,624 strawberries in one day!
