Why do people buy natural and organic foods? We seem to believe that natural and organic foods – produced without pesticides and antibiotics – are better for our health.

Some studies seem to suggest that natural and organic foods contain more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than conventionally grown produce.

Investigators at the University of Washington compared the pesticide levels in children consuming mostly organic foods to levels in those eating a conventional diet:

Urine samples of some children eating conventionally produced foods indicated pesticide intake above the Environmental Protection Agency’s “negligible” risk level.

By contrast, kids eating organic foods had a median level of pesticide byproducts that was only a sixth of that of children eating conventional foods – - via Taste for Life.

Dr. Ames, a famous inventor of the Ames Test, rejects the idea that natural and organic foods are better.

We get more carcinogens in a cup of coffee than we do in all the pesticide residues you eat in a day. [...] Celery, alfalfa sprouts, and mushrooms are just chock-full of carcinogens.

Apparently, vegetables create toxic chemicals naturally, as a defense mechanism against insects.

Be that as it may, if you do not always buy natural and organic foods – yet if you are concern about pesticides in conventionally grown fruits and vegetables – The Environmental Working Group recently published a free guide that ranks pesticide contamination of fruits and vegetables.

According to the chart, the highest pesticide load was found in peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, and spinach.