A comprehensive review of popular shopping guide lists, like the “Dirty Dozen” list, was commissioned by the Alliance for Food and Farming to examine the basis of the lists rankings, the methodology used to develop these lists and the scientific evidence linking pesticide residues and health effects.

• The list is misleading to consumers in that it is based only upon exposure data while remaining silent about available information on the toxicity of pesticides present in the diet. As a result, the list does not provide a basis to assess risk. Merely detecting a residue does not provide an adequate scientific basis for judging whether or not there are potential health effects.
• The U.S. EPA’s current process for evaluating the potential risks of pesticides on food is rigorous and health-protective. The EPA’s testing requirements for pesticides used on food are more extensive than for chemicals used in any other category, and include testing targeted specifically to assess the potential risks to fetuses, infants and children.
• Given the widespread media attention devoted to the list, it is disconcerting that the authors have not shared their algorithm with the scientific community or the public, nor have they subjected it to an outside peer review — something the authors often demand of the regulatory agencies.
• The currently available scientific data do not provide a convincing argument to conclude that there is a significant difference between the nutritional quality of organically grown food and food grown with conventional agricultural methods.