Insights \ Health Hits

Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? What about an apple with lots of pesticide residue in it? An environmental group is warning consumers that many of their favorite fruits and veggies may be teaming with pesticides.

The Environmental Working Group released its Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce this week. Apples topped the group's "Dirty Dozen" list, which ranks fruits and veggies by how many pesticides investigators found and at what levels. Data on the produce comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Other fruits and veggies on the dirty list: Celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, and kale and collard greens.

The group said pesticides showed up on 98 percent of the 700-plus apple samples tested by the USDA. Apples jumped three spots from their ranking on the group's previous list.

Pesticides can affect the environment and human health. But many experts say the amount of pesticides on conventionally grown produce is safe for human consumption. One way to limit exposure to pesticides is to buy organic produce.

Or you can buy from the EWG's list of produce with low levels of pesticide concentration. Those fruits and veggies include onion, corn, pineapple, avocado, asparagus, sweet peas, mangoes, eggplant, cantaloupe, kiwi and cabbage.

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