Ranking
Lower-residue fruits
Almost everything on this list has a peel you throw away. That single structural fact explains most of the ranking.
| # | Food | Residue evidence | Verdict | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🍍Pineapple630 conventional samples · 22 organic | 4/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $3.99org $5.99 |
| 2 | 🥑Avocados837 conventional samples · 39 organic | 5/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $1.49org $2.29 |
| 3 | 🥝Kiwi1,337 conventional samples · 74 organic | 14/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $0.79org $1.19 |
| 4 | 🍉Watermelon1,367 conventional samples · 42 organic | 26/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $6.49org $8.99 |
| 5 | 🥭Mangoes678 conventional samples · 30 organic | 31/100 | Conventional is reasonable | $1.69org $2.69 |
| 6 | 🍌Bananas1,456 conventional samples · 134 organic | 46/100 | Higher priority | $0.72org $1.09 |
| 7 | 🫐Blueberries1,202 conventional samples · 140 organic | 61/100 | Higher priority | $3.99org $5.79 |
| 8 | 🍑Peaches1,260 conventional samples · 38 organic | 71/100 | Consider organic | $2.69org $4.19 |
| 9 | 🍷Grapes2,046 conventional samples · 75 organic | 73/100 | Higher priority | $3.29org $4.99 |
| 10 | 🍇Blackberries883 conventional samples · 138 organic | 74/100 | Higher priority | $3.49org $4.99 |
Why this ranking looks the way it does
Avocados, pineapple, mango, and watermelon share a design feature: the part that takes the spray is not the part you eat. Detection rates in the edible flesh run at a small fraction of what thin-skinned fruit shows, and in the case of avocados it is close to nothing at all.
This is the half of the picture that annual "avoid these" lists tend to under-serve. Knowing which foods do not need the organic upgrade is worth as much to a household budget as knowing which ones do, because it frees money to spend where the measured gap is large.
Bananas are the interesting case. They show more detections than the rest of this list because post-harvest treatments are applied to the skin — but the skin is discarded, and residues in the flesh are rare. The premium is also among the smallest in the store, which is why some shoppers upgrade anyway.
Build a grocery list that applies this automatically, or open the organic budget optimizer to price the upgrades.