Ranking
Fruits with higher pesticide residue evidence
Ranked by relative residue evidence, not by risk. These are the fruits where an organic upgrade changes the most — if you eat them often.
| # | Food | Residue evidence | Verdict | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🍓Strawberries1,337 conventional samples · 69 organic | 96/100 | Higher priority | $4.29org $6.49 |
| 2 | 🍒Cherries483 conventional samples · no organic set | 81/100 | Insufficient data | $5.49org $7.99 |
| 3 | 🍎Apples1,485 conventional samples · 98 organic | 77/100 | Higher priority | $2.09org $3.19 |
| 4 | 🍇Blackberries883 conventional samples · 138 organic | 74/100 | Higher priority | $3.49org $4.99 |
| 5 | 🍊Nectarines1,228 conventional samples · 28 organic | 74/100 | Consider organic | $2.79org $4.29 |
| 6 | 🍐Pears2,018 conventional samples · 104 organic | 74/100 | Higher priority | $2.29org $3.49 |
| 7 | 🍷Grapes2,046 conventional samples · 75 organic | 73/100 | Higher priority | $3.29org $4.99 |
| 8 | 🍑Peaches1,260 conventional samples · 38 organic | 71/100 | Consider organic | $2.69org $4.19 |
| 9 | 🫐Blueberries1,202 conventional samples · 140 organic | 61/100 | Higher priority | $3.99org $5.79 |
| 10 | 🍌Bananas1,456 conventional samples · 134 organic | 46/100 | Higher priority | $0.72org $1.09 |
Why this ranking looks the way it does
Three factors put a fruit near the top of this list, and they compound. Thin edible skin means nothing gets peeled away before eating. A long growing season means more spray applications. And soft fruit that bruises easily tends to be treated closer to harvest, which leaves less time for residues to break down.
Strawberries, grapes, and stone fruit hit all three. That is why they appear at the top of almost every published watch list, including this one — the ordering is not a coincidence between methodologies, it reflects the underlying agronomy.
What this list does not tell you is whether any of these fruits is unsafe. Across the whole monitoring program, more than 99% of samples come in below the EPA tolerance, usually by orders of magnitude. The useful reading is comparative: if you are going to spend a limited amount on organic, spend it here rather than on avocados.
Build a grocery list that applies this automatically, or open the organic budget optimizer to price the upgrades.