Thursday, June 16, 2011

EWG releases their latest Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

I would love to eat all organic all the time, but it can get expensive. Especially when it comes to produce! 


EWG has released their 2011 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce. I use this guide to buy smart and reduce my family's exposure to pesticides as much as possible. Eating conventionally-grown produce is far better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all!


This guide will help you determine which fruits and vegetables have the most pesticide residues and are the most important to buy organic. You can lower your pesticide intake substantially by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated produce. Click here to download the guide as a PDF.


Please always remember to wash all produce, especially conventional produce. The risk of ingesting pesticides could be greater than reflected by USDA test data. EWG has not evaluated various produce washes for efficacy or potentially toxicity. However, since some plants absorbed pesticides systemically,  a produce wash would have limited effect. The safest choice is to use the Shopper’s Guide to avoid conventional versions of those fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues. I use plain ol' water to wash my produce. When I feel the need I add a little baking soda to the wash, and rinse well.






Make sure to carefully look at the number on the fruits and veggies you are buying:

  • Conventionally grown fruits and veggies start with the number 4.
  • Organically grown fruits and veggies start with the number 9.
  • Genetically modified fruits and veggies start with the number 8.
organic

conventional


For example: I stay away from the gross Grapple. Have you seen this thing? It once was a perfectly fine apple, but then they had to inject it with artificial grape flavor. YUCK!!! 

GROSS!!!



Bottom line: Be sure to understand ALL labels... You could be tricked by misplaced fruits and veggies.



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens from EWG

 It is 9:30 AM and it already feels like 90ยบ!!! I feel it's the perfect time to address protecting our skin from harmful sun rays. I just received an email from EWG about safer sunscreens that I would love to share with my readers.



EWG's top-rated sunscreens all contain the minerals zinc or titanium. They are the right choice for people who are looking for the best UVA protection without any sunscreen chemical considered to be a potential hormone disruptor. None of the products contain oxybenzone or vitamin A and none are sprayed or powdered.

Click here to see the entire article for EWG's 5th Annual Sunscreen Report.
The article also allows you to look-up products and see their hazard score.


Here are the top 5 best beach & sport sunscreens