The ‘Dirty Dozen’ Produce List Is Here—How Worried Should You Be?

The 2025 ‘Dirty Dozen’ List was just announced by nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG). The list—a summary of produce items with the most pesticide residues per weight—could cast some doubt over the principle that eating more fruits and veggies is a good idea. Spinach tops the list, followed by strawberries, kale (plus collards and mustard greens), grapes, peaches, cherries, nectarines, pears, apples, blackberries, blueberries, and potatoes. Chances are, especially if you love to eat seasonal produce, you eat some of these foods often, if not daily.

So, should you be worried that your meals could be causing more harm than good? Moreover, is it in your best interest to reduce your intake or only invest in organic versions of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and produce in general? And, what does organic even mean? Ahead, we’re unpacking these questions and more, plus how much faith you actually should place in the EWG’s latest report, according to food safety experts.

How “dirty” is the ‘Dirty Dozen’, really?

There are a few important things to take into context when evaluating the ‘Dirty Dozen.’ The first is that the list ranks the presence of pesticide residues in samples, which doesn’t automatically indicate they’re at unsafe levels. “Not all pesticides present the same risk, and some are present in such small residual quantities that it would require many many pounds to be eaten in one sitting before it would approach detectable levels,” says Max Teplitski, PhD, a microbiologist and chief science officer of the International Fresh Produce Association. 

To put things into perspective, he suggests checking out the pesticide residue calculator by the nonprofit organization Alliance for Food and Farming. It’s based on an analysis by toxicologists at the Personal Chemical Exposure program at the University of California, Riverside, which found that you’d need to consume hundreds to thousands of servings of produce in a day before you’d experience even a slight risk associated with pesticide exposure. Ultimately, the researchers determined that the levels of pesticide residue evaluated by the EWG just isn’t a good estimate of risk.¹

The second is that the detection of pesticide residue doesn’t immediately translate into health risks. Teplitski places his faith in standards set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) consistently finds that 99 percent of food sampled comes in well below EPA standards, with around 27 percent having no detectable residues at all,” he shares. He notes that, in many cases, the EWG uses thresholds that are far lower than EPA standards, which exaggerates the presence (and fear) of pesticides on produce.²

The third: The report detects a range of different pesticides. Teplitski also calls out the fact that growers don’t just douse crops with chemical and biological substances and pesticides willy-nilly. There are precise purposes—not to mention strict oversight—for doing so. “Some of these are used to provide the plant with nutrients and micronutrients to be able to assimilate the sun’s energy and to build molecules such as amino acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments,” he explains. 

He likens the use of pesticides on crops as taking medicine (that is, only as needed as a last resort) to control pests and protect the health of the plant. “The use of pesticides are not only very costly to growers of both organic and conventionally grown produce, but also very tightly regulated by the EPA and USDA,” he adds. “These regulatory bodies address timing and type of application and also provide strict guidance to manufacturers of these inputs.”

There are a few important things to take into context when evaluating the ‘Dirty Dozen.’ The first is that the list ranks the presence of pesticide residues in samples, which doesn’t automatically indicate they’re at unsafe levels.

Wait… organic doesn’t mean pesticide-free?

Some people think that organic produce is pesticide-free, but this isn't actually the case. “Organic produce has many requirements, but one of the most notable ones is that they are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides,” says Bryan Quoc Le, PhD, a food scientist and the founder and principal food consultant at Mendocino Food Consulting. Instead, organic produce permits naturally occurring pesticides, including diatomaceous earth, neem oil, and pyrethrins (deriving from chrysanthemums),to ward off pests.

According to Le, natural pesticides have lower efficacy and degrade more quickly than synthetic pesticides, so growers may have to spray even more of them compared to conventional pesticides. Again, it’s important to reiterate that pesticide presence, natural or not, does not automatically mean harm.

How to maximize the safety of your produce 

It’s understandable to want to reduce your intake of pesticides to mitigate the risk of potential health hazards. However, cutting foods on the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list out of your diet—not to mention fearing or reducing your intake of fruits and veggies at large—isn’t the way to go.³

According to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 90 percent of people don’t eat enough vegetables and 80 percent of people don’t eat enough fruit. “We also know that eating more produce has been found to lower blood pressure, and reduce or even prevent the risk of chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes,” Teplitski shares. 

Some ‘Dirty Dozen’ foods also happen to be among the most potent picks of the lot for overall wellbeing and disease prevention. A higher intake of strawberries and blueberries, for instance, has been shown to reduce the rate of cognitive decline in older adults. Meanwhile, dark leafy greens (such as spinach and kale) have powerful micronutrients that can decrease the risk for heart disease and certain cancers. These points considered, it’s in your best interest to continue to feast on fruits and veggies rather than fearing them.⁴

Teplitski advises following the guidelines set forth by the USDA and FDA on safely cleaning, preparing, and storing produce. “Fruits and vegetables that are peeled and cut need to be washed under running water, scrubbed if there’s soil residue, and dried with a clean towel before peeling or cutting,” he shares. He also advises against using soap or produce washes, as the former could introduce harmful chemicals while the latter shows little to no benefit.

Per Le, some pesticide residue can remain on the surface of your fruits and veggies, but thorough rinses can remove much of them. “Most of the time the residues are absorbed into the peel, so they are not just sitting on the surface,” he adds. With that in mind, you *could* cut the peels off certain items to reduce exposure… yet that won’t necessarily yield tangible benefits. On the other side of the coin, many fruit and veggie peels pack fiber and anti-inflammatory benefits to boost your diet in significant ways.

Finally, Le believes that investing in organic produce can be a good idea if and when it’s accessible, namely as a (potential) insurance policy. If it’s more feasible to purchase organic produce only on occasion, he suggests doing so for fruits and veggies you consume in large amounts. “Otherwise, there is no need to worry,” he shares. “The widely accepted position is that higher produce consumption is still more important than whether or not it is organic.”

The dirty takeaway

While the EWG may not intend to scare people away from buying certain fruits and vegetables with their ‘Dirty Dozen’ list, this will inevitably happen for some, even without valid data backing up claims. “The dangers of the ‘dirty’ items are exaggerated, and there is no supporting evidence that they truly are any more dangerous than their ‘clean’ items,” says Le. “The EWG list simply isn’t clear and isn’t helpful in showing any real information, so we don’t know exactly how ‘bad’ they are.” 

The widely accepted position is that higher produce consumption is still more important than whether or not it is organic.

Since the report doesn’t indicate the exact amounts of specific pesticide residues, it’s impossible to know how much consumers would actually ingest, and thus the risk can’t be adequately assessed. All things considered, until more compelling, data-driven evidence comes out suggesting otherwise, you’ll want to keep fruits and veggies on the literal and proverbial table.