Call me a skeptic, but I’m always just a little suspicious of what level is “safe” for ingesting the pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables and just who determined how much pesticide it’s okay to eat. Obviously nobody is testing each apple or each spinach leaf to make sure it complies with the “safe” levels. And what’s considered “safe”? If I don’t drop dead within two hours, then it’s fine?

The fact is that there IS pesticide residue on ALL fruits and vegetables that are grown in the conventional way. The conventional methods include the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and drugs. There’s more residue on some than on others, but there IS pesticide residue on all of it. The level of pesticide residue that is considered “safe” – or maybe the term should be “legal” – varies from chemical to chemical and from variety to variety. More residues is allowed on some fruits and vegetables than others.

If you do not buy organic fruit and vegetables, then at the very least, wash them and, when possible, peel them before you eat them. There are vegetable and fruit washes that are available on the market, but a mild detergent wash is just about as effective.

When you do buy organic fruits and vegetables, there shouldn’t be any pesticide residue on them if they were raised in the United States. The label will say “certified organic.” That “certified organic” label means that the fruits and vegetables were raised under strict standards and that there were no pesticides or chemical fertilizers used. Regulations vary from country to country. So if the fruits or vegetables are labeled “organic,” that means only that they were raised according to organic standards of other countries, and that those standards are not a strict as those in America.