America’s second-most popular fruit – apples – climbed to the top of a not so prestigious list.  That is a list of the most pesticide covered fruits and vegetables by the USDA.

The apple was found to the be MOST heavily laden item when it came to residual pesticides. It is the third most often consumed fruit….

Still, study authors and WFA staff want to point out the value of fruit and vegetable consumption, far out ways any risk of latent pesticide.

The majority of samples were washed and peeled before testing, reflecting what chemicals people might be ingesting when they eat them.  All tested produce pesticide levels were found to be within the permissable “safe” levels.

Top 5 Dirty Consumables:

1. Apples
2. Celery
3. Strawberries
4. Peaches
5. Spinach

Senior analyst at EWG, Sonya Lunder, said:

“Pesticides are toxic. They are designed to kill things and most are not good for you. The question is, how bad are they?”