Should You Buy Organic Apples?

By Nicci Micco, September/October 2009

Plus, 4 ways to reduce your exposure to pesticide residues.

READER'S COMMENT:

"your are very misinformed and misleading others- apples are on the top " dirty dozen list" each person should really do there own research and Any pestisides are bad for you, they are not natural, if they kill bugs, they will kill you...

Healthy Apple Recipes:
Easy Apple Recipes
Healthy Apple Desserts
Healthy Apple Pie and More Fall Pie Recipes
Heart-Healthy Apple Recipes
Apple Buyer's Guide
The Family Tree: Celebrate Fall with a Trip to the Apple Orchard

But apples still rank second (following peaches) on the nonprofit Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list of fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues. Long-term exposure to pesticides has been associated with cancer, infertility and neurologic conditions, such as Parkinson’s. Since I know that small doses of pesticides are far more dangerous to children (whose bodies are smaller and nervous systems are still developing) than to adults, I felt strongly about taking Julian to Shelburne Orchards, where we could pick organic apples. I just couldn’t imagine pureeing up apples with pesticides to give to Julian as one of his very first foods. Today, I still choose organic apples for Julian but often eat conventional ones myself.