Pesticides in the produce aisles
Overview and health risks

There is a saying from the world of computer programming that applies to many other aspects of life, including our diet: Garbage in, garbage out. Just as we try to guard against too much unhealthy junk food, we also need to make sure there is no “junk” in the foods we expect to be healthy.

Unfortunately, fruits and vegetables, the foods we most seek out for healthy diets, are often grown using pesticides. Significant levels of residue can remain on those foods all the way to the store and to your home. While naturally occurring nutrients can be totally metabolized and excreted as part of our normal physiology, we cannot process or eliminate many pesticides and chemicals. This may cause such health problems as cancer, nervous system damage and reduced immune function.

Worse, pesticides takes their greatest toll on children. Relative to their size and weight, children eat and drink more than adults do, exposing them to a greater amount of toxins. For example, infants under age one consume fifteen times more apple products per unit of body weight than the national average. According to the Environmental Working Group, apple products alone are responsible for exposing more than half of the nation’s children to unsafe levels of organophosphate pesticides.