Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce 2026

By Staff Author

April 11, 2026 • Healthy Living

The Environmental Working Group publishes its annual Shoppers Guide for buying produce. The EWG’s Shopper’s Guide, released every year since 2004, provides information about the fruits and vegetables with the highest and lowest pesticide residues, so consumers can make the best decisions for their families. The 2026 edition analyzed USDA residue data from 54,344 samples of 47 fruits and vegetables, detecting 264 pesticides and breakdown products.

The USDA peels or scrubs and washes produce samples before testing, whereas the FDA only removes dirt before testing its samples. Even after these steps it finds ongoing widespread pesticide residue on popular non-organic fruits and vegetables – including pesticides that are the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. While it is a US study it may be helpful in choosing where to spend your organic food dollars.

EWG’s 2026 Clean Fifteen™ identifies the conventionally grown produce with the lowest pesticide levels.

Key findings of the list are:

• Nearly 60% of Clean Fifteen samples had no detectable pesticide residues.
• Only 16% had residues of two or more pesticides.
• The top items also ranked among the lowest for overall pesticide toxicity.

EWG’s 2026 Dirty Dozen™ highlights the produce with the highest pesticide contamination, based on the number, amount and toxicity of detected pesticide residues.

Key findings on this list are:

• 96% of Dirty Dozen samples contained pesticides.
• A total of 203 different pesticides were detected on these crops.
• PFAS pesticides appeared on 63% of Dirty Dozen samples.
• Most items had an average of four or more pesticides per sample.

These lists are not an excuse to skip your fruits and veggies! The Shopper Guide empowers you to continue enjoying the significant health benefits of fruits & veggies, while making informed choices to reduce pesticide exposure, without sacrificing nutrition.”

Conventionally grown is better than not at all but choose organic from the dirty dozen when you can. The benefit of fruits and vegetables outweigh the risk from pesticides even if they're not organic

Some Good News

Produce pesticide residue levels of a neurotoxic class of insecticides, known as organophosphates, have fallen sharply since EWG first published the Shopper’s Guide. But organophosphates haven’t vanished. Recent federal data show organophosphates residues still appearing on some produce. USDA tests from 2021–2022 found acephate on green beans despite its 2011 ban on that crop, and residues have also been detected on blueberries and, most recently, blackberries imported from Mexico.

Still, the dramatic decline in organophosphates use is real progress. But their continued presence on produce, and growing concerns about the insecticides that replaced them, pyrethroids and neonicotinoids, highlights the need for ongoing monitoring and a shift to safer farming practice