Wash Up: Apples Top The Annual 'Dirty Dozen' List Of Pesticide-ridden Crops

The Environmental Working Group published its annual report on the most pesticide-contaminated produce in U.S. supermarkets, with apples topping the list again.

After apples, the EWG's 2013 "Dirty Dozen" names strawberries, grapes, celery, peaches, spinach, sweet bell peppers, imported nectarines, cucumbers, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and hot peppers as the most pesticide-ridden produce sold in America.

Of the 48 popular foods analyzed, the least pesticide-pommeled crops were grouped into a list called the "Clean Fifteen," among the "cleanest" produce is pineapples, sweet corn, onions and avocados. See the full run down of where your favorite foods rank on the list here. 

The lists have remained essentially the same over in the last few years. EWG reports it gets its data on pesticide use from USDA and FDA studies.

Late last year, The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement warning doctors and parents that pesticide exposure from food are potentially dangerous to children's health.  

However, a 2011 article posted on Mother Jones said that while the Dirty Dozen list is an appreciated and useful tool to warn consumers of the threats brought by pesticides on their food, it misses the mark, citing the Pesticide Action Network's Ground Truth blog, which states "It's the farmers, farmworkers and residents of rural communities who are really most at risk from pesticides, not consumers."

Though the blog post is a couple years old, it did make an interesting point about the 2011 EWG list:

"Overall, the two lists don't look that different from the standpoint of pesticide use. The average pesticide use intensity for the list are quite similar: 26.2 lbs/acre for the Clean Fifteen and 29.8 lbs/acre for the Dirty Dozen."

Ground Truth has yet to make a post about this year's list, which was released Monday.