By avoiding the most contaminated produce, consumers will substantially reduce their dietary pesticide risks. Thanks to the bounty of fruits and vegetables in most American supermarkets, people can radically minimize consumption of the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables with no nutritional risk. All of the vitamins, nutrients and carotenoids provided by the crops on the list of the 12 most contaminated are found in abundance in other fruits and vegetables available in just about any grocery store. In fact, few of the 12 most contaminated foods, with the notable exceptions of spinach, provide high levels of vitamins and carotenoids. A quick review of the list reveals plenty of equally nutritious, and safer, substitute foods.
Strawberries are a good source of vitamin C, but vitamin C is very common in fruits and vegetables.
Nutritious substitutes with far lower pesticide residues are blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, kiwis and a host of other fruits rich in vitamin C. Green bell peppers are a good source of vitamin C and red bell peppers add vitamin A and a moderate dose of carotenoids to a meal. Good alternatives include broccoli, romaine lettuce or carrots. Other greens such as kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens and collard greens are good nutritional substitutes, but have a roughly equivalent pesticide contamination profile. For raw spinach, romaine lettuce is far less contaminated alternative that is relatively high in carotenoids. For cooked spinach, broccoli or brussels sprouts are reasonable substitutes that are high in carotrnoids, vitamins A and C and folate.