Pesticide Is No Stranger to Organic Produce, Study Finds

Think organic fruits and vegetables are free of pesticides? Think again.

Almost a fourth of the organic produce in grocery stores could contain traces of pesticides, including chemicals such as DDT.

A Consumers Union-led study of government-collected data found pesticide residue on 23% of organic fruits and vegetables and on nearly 75% of conventionally grown produce.

The findings don’t mean that any of the produce is unsafe. The residues are seldom even close to government limits.

“Consumers who seek to reduce their exposure to pesticide residues can do so reliably by choosing organic produce,” the scientists wrote. “However, none of the choices available on the market is completely free of pesticide residues.”

The study is being published today in the journal Food Additives and Contaminants.

Much of the residues were chemicals that plants can soak up from the soil decades after the pesticides were used.