As a registered dietitian, I purchase all kinds of produce at my local supermarket: conventional, organic and "ugly" (or not perfectly formed). No matter which variety I buy, I never worry about pesticide residue. What I do think about is how these fruits and vegetables can help me meet recommended daily needs, and the benefits my body will reap by enjoying them. With 90% of Americans not meeting the recommended daily amount of vegetables, and 85% of Americans not meeting the recommended daily amount of fruit, there is a need to increase your produce consumption.

If you’re worried about pesticides in your fruit and vegetables, keep reading. I’ll explain why some produce gets a bad reputation for being "dirty," or higher in pesticides, and what that actually means.

Organic vs. Conventional Produce

With online fearmongering regarding pesticides rampant nowadays, many people believe that organic produce is safer. However, the body of evidence shows that eating any combination of fruits and vegetables has a plethora of health benefits. A peer reviewed study conducted by the University College of London found that eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day reduces your risk of death at any point in time by 42% compared to eating less than one portion.

Despite popular belief, organic produce isn't necessarily superior to conventional. A 2024 published review study found that there is no nutritional difference between organic and conventional produce.

Plus, there’s the issue of cost — organic produce costs much more compared to conventional produce. One of the main reasons is that the organic certification process costs a pretty penny, which is passed on to the consumer. A 2016 study conducted by researchers for Illinois Tech Center for Nutrition Research found that the cost of organic fruits and vegetables is too high for low-income individuals, so they don’t buy them. Even worse, the study participants reported that messaging from consumer advocacy groups created fear around purchasing conventional produce. Sadly, the study found that these individuals skipped buying any produce altogether.

How Are Pesticides Regulated?

In the U.S., pesticides are regulated primarily by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Before any pesticide can be registered for use on food crops, it must meet the EPA's strict criteria, and the EPA must conclude that the pesticide does not pose significant health risks or has a "reasonable certainty of no harm" to consumers. This strict criteria and approval process considers the potential increased susceptibility of infants and children and the combination of exposure from various sources including food, drinking water and residential settings.

It is also a common misconception that organic produce doesn’t use any pesticides. The term pesticide is defined by the EPA as "any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest." A pesticide can be of organic nature, too, as long as they are approved by the National Organic Standards Board. Organic pesticides have to follow the same toxicological principles as pesticides used for conventional food production.

Should You Be Worried About Pesticide Residue?

The EPA and USDA’s Pesticide Data Program releases an annual report about pesticide residue. The latest report released in December 2025 found that 97.2% of domestic human food samples met federal safety standards. In addition, over 39% of all samples had no detectable pesticide residues.

As such, there really is little to no pesticide residue in your produce. To really understand how little pesticide residue there is in your fruits and vegetables, the Alliance for Food and Farming created this handy pesticide residue calculator tool; it tells you how many servings, in one day, of a fruit or vegetable you would need to eat without any effect, even if that fruit or vegetable has the highest pesticide residue recorded by the USDA. You can filter the findings by age and gender and then select a fruit or vegetable.

Below you’ll find the results for various fruits and vegetables using the Pesticide Residue Calculator:

• Blueberries: A woman could consume 13,225 servings
• Carrots: A man could consume 25,339 servings
• Kale: A woman could consume 18,611 servings
• Spinach: A man could consume 1,084 servings
• Strawberries: A woman could consume 453 servings
• Grapes: A man could consume 941 servings

Given the fact that Americans fall very short on their daily recommended fruit and vegetable intake, it is highly unlikely (or pretty much impossible) to eat the servings listed above.

If you’re still worried about the tiny amount of pesticide residue that could possibly be on your produce, just give it a good rinse under some running water before eating it.

Bottom Line: Feel good about eating any fruit or vegetable you choose as the benefits well outweigh any potential pesticide residue fears or risks you may think they have.

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