The Dirty Dozen And The Clean 15 Lists - Don’t Be Confused!

In December 2023 Pesticide Action Network (PAN) released its Dirty Dozen list for 2022 (the last year government data is available).  This is a list of fruit and vegetables sold in the UK that are most likely to contain residues of 2 or more pesticides.  There are a couple of things to note about this list:

1. PAN is reliant on data from the UK Government.
2. The UK government only tests about 3,000kg of produce each year which is a tiny fraction of the total produce sold, and they tend to test a different list of produce each year.  This is an inconsistent approach to testing which makes it difficult to establish long term trends.

The Dirty Dozen (together with the percentage of samples with multiple residues) for 2022 are:

• Peaches / Nectarines (85%)
• Grapes (84%)
• Strawberries (83%)
• Cherries (81%)
• Spinach (73%)
• Apples (72%)
• Brussel Sprouts (50%)
• Cucumber (47%)
• Tomato (46%)
• Apricots (43%)
• Lettuce (39%)
• Beans with pods (38%)

Because of the inconsistent approach to the government’s testing, PAN also published a list of the worst culprits over the last 5 years.  The aim of this list is to provide shoppers with a clearer view of problem produce.  The list for 2018-2022 (together with the percentage of samples with multiple residues) is:

• Grapefruit (100%)
• Soft Citrus (96%)
• Oranges (87%)
• Strawberries (86%)
• Grapes (84%)
• Dried Fruit (Grapes) (82%)
• Cherries (81%)
• Herbs (81%)
• Pre-Packed Salad (81%)
• Peaches / Nectarines (76%)
• Lemons (75%)
• Spices (74%)

The message is that if you want to avoid being exposed to harmful pesticides,  you should be avoiding the produce on these lists unless it is organic.

Dirty Dozen v. Clean 15: Don’t be confused!

Are you looking at the UK or United States lists?  It’s easy to confuse them.  Here’s how to avoid the confusion:

There is some confusion regarding the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists, as the UK and USA publish their own lists based on data from their respective governments.  Please make sure that you are looking at the right list for the country you are in!

The Dirty Dozen is a list of fruit and vegetables that is published every year with the highest levels of pesticide residue.  The Clean 15 is a list of those fruit and vegetables with the lowest levels of pesticide residue.

These lists are published in the United States each year by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on data for produce in the USA from the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

There is no Clean 15 list for fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK!  

PAN is a UK based charity and it publishes a Dirty Dozen for fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK, based on UK government data.  PAN does not publish a Clean 15 list.  PAN has made it clear in their recently published Dirty Dozen list that they do not publish a Clean 15 as the data from the UK government is inadequate.

So, unless you are buying your fruit and vegetables in the United Sates, do not rely on a Clean 15 list as it will have come from EWG and is based on American produce and data.