Love them or hate them, raisins tend to be a polarizing snack, but there’s one thing we can agree on: they’re dirty.
Shoppers would be hard-pressed to find a way to avoid pesticides on their fresh fruits and vegetables since nearly 70% of all produce sold in the U.S. contains pesticide residues, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which just released its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce.
Using test data from the Department of Agriculture, the EWG is able to analyze to what degree fresh fruits and vegetables are contaminated with pesticide residues. But this year, their updated guidelines — which include their notorious “Dirty Dozen ” and “Clean Fifteen” lists — put the spotlight on raisins. They found that 99% of the dried fruit tested had residues of at least two pesticides. Even the organic variety, presumably produced with fewer chemicals, was packed with pesticides at a rate of 91%.
“If we included raisins in our calculations, they would be No. 1 on the Dirty Dozen,” said EWG toxicologist Dr. Thomas Galligan. “Although raisins are a popular snack, consumers concerned about their pesticide consumption may want to consider buying fresh or frozen produce from our Clean Fifteen list instead.”
That advice may be difficult to swallow for some. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, every American consumed an average of 1.25 pounds of raisins in 2017, the latest data available.
Even more worrisome is how the finding might impact kids 15 and under, who reportedly eat some 208 million pounds of the stuff every year, claims Zion Market Research. For example, the insecticide chlorpyrifos, which is known to do damage to children’s nervous systems even at low levels, was found in 5% of conventional raisins and 6% of their organic counterparts, says the EWG.
“Infants, babies and young children are exquisitely vulnerable to even low levels of pesticide exposure, so it’s important parents and caregivers take steps to safeguard children from these chemicals while also providing them diets rich in healthy fruits and vegetables,” said Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatric epidemiologist whose work on how pesticides impact infants and children helped inspire the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act.
This isn’t the first time raisins have come under fire in the US. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration recalled Deshi-brand dried white grapes for containing undeclared sulfites, which could cause a deadly allergic reaction for some.
Producing raisins is dangerous business, too. In January, a California woman died tragically at a raisin-processing plant when a piece of her clothing became ensnared in a machine that separates clumps of raisins.