EWG Publishes ‘Clean 15’ to Reduce Dietary Pesticide Exposure; Study Shows Glyphosate Still Carcinogenic at Levels Deemed Safe
This article first appeared in the July 2025 issue of Presence Marketing’s newsletter.
By Steven Hoffman
As public awareness of the connection between food and health continues to grow, so too does concern over pesticide residues in the food we eat every day. This month, two major developments underscore just how crucial it is to pay attention not only to what’s on our plates — but how it got there.
On June 11, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its 2025 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, including the highly anticipated “Clean Fifteen” and “Dirty Dozen” lists. These guides rank popular fruits and vegetables based on pesticide contamination, using data compiled from the USDA and FDA. For nearly two decades, these rankings have helped consumers make more informed decisions about when buying organic matters most.
This year’s “Clean Fifteen” offers some good news: Nearly 60% of the tested samples of the 15 least-contaminated conventional produce items showed no detectable pesticide residues whatsoever. Topping the clean list were avocados, sweet corn, pineapple, onions, and papaya — all relatively safe bets for budget-conscious shoppers looking to reduce pesticide intake without going fully organic.
But the release of EWG’s guide was accompanied by sobering news on another front: The results of a two-year study published in Environmental Health adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that glyphosate — the active ingredient in Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup®, the world’s most widely used herbicide — may cause multiple types of cancer, and at doses considered safe by regulators.
“Our study provides solid and independent scientific evidence of the carcinogenicity of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides,” said lead investigator Daniele Mandrioli of the Ramazzini Institute in Italy.
Glyphosate and the American Diet
Glyphosate has been a mainstay of industrial agriculture since the 1970s, praised for its broad-spectrum weed-killing power. With the rise of genetically modified crops engineered to resist glyphosate, its use exploded in the late 1990s and 2000s. Today, it’s sprayed on millions of acres of GMO corn, soybeans, cotton, and canola. But it doesn’t stop there.
In conventional grain production, glyphosate is also used as a desiccant — sprayed just before harvest to dry out crops like oats, wheat, lentils, and chickpeas. That means it doesn’t just show up in livestock feed. It ends up in our breakfast bowls and lunchboxes: in oatmeal, crackers, tortillas, hummus, and cereal — it can even end up in products marketed as “natural” or “healthy.”
Glyphosate is now so prevalent in our environment that it has been detected in everything from rainwater to breast milk. A 2022 CDC study found glyphosate in the urine of 80% of a representative sample of U.S. children and adults. Just last year, EWG reported that popular oat-based cereals and snack bars still contained detectable glyphosate residues, years after promising to reformulate.
So, how dangerous is it?
A Closer Look at the Science
The new Environmental Health study, published in June 2025, evaluated nearly 2,000 previously published studies to reassess glyphosate’s potential health risks. It concluded that even very low doses — far lower than currently allowed by regulatory agencies — can pose significant risks of cancer, hormone disruption, reproductive harm, and immune suppression. The researchers found that glyphosate can interfere with endocrine signaling pathways at parts-per-billion levels, meaning even tiny exposures could be biologically active.
This follows a 2015 determination by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” Since then, thousands of lawsuits have been filed against Bayer-Monsanto, many resulting in high-profile jury verdicts linking glyphosate exposure to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Although Bayer continues to deny glyphosate’s carcinogenicity and has spent billions to settle lawsuits, public confidence in the safety of this chemical is eroding.
And now, with researchers warning there may be no safe level of exposure, the need for regulatory reassessment — and consumer action — is more urgent than ever.
What the ‘Clean Fifteen’ Tells Us — and What It Doesn’t
In the midst of all this, EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce offers a valuable, practical resource for consumers trying to navigate the complexity of the modern food system.
EWG analyzed over 47,000 samples of 46 popular fruits and vegetables. The “Clean Fifteen” list identifies produce items that typically have the lowest pesticide levels, even when grown conventionally. This year’s top 15 are:
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapple
Onions
Papaya
Frozen sweet peas
Asparagus
Honeydew melon
Kiwi
Cabbage
Watermelon
Mushrooms
Mangoes
Sweet potatoes
Carrots
It’s worth noting that some of these crops, such as papaya and sweet corn, are frequently genetically modified. That means they may be lower in pesticide residues, but still part of the chemical-dependent industrial agriculture model.
In contrast, the “Dirty Dozen” — which includes strawberries, spinach, and kale — are best purchased organic due to their high pesticide loads. For instance, 90% of strawberry samples tested had detectable pesticide residues, and spinach samples had, on average, 1.8 times more pesticide residues by weight than any other crop.
The takeaway: if you can’t afford to buy everything organic, prioritize organic options for items on the Dirty Dozen, and rest a bit easier when purchasing from the Clean Fifteen.
Resources & References
EWG Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
Glyphosate cancer study summary: https://www.thenewlede.org/2025/06/new-study-adds-to-evidence-that-glyphosate-weed-killer-can-cause-cancer/
Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural Marketing, a strategic communications and brand development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more at www.compassnatural.com.
Organic Packaged Foods Contain Fewer Ingredients Linked to Negative Health Effects
Photo: Pexels
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s October 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steve Hoffman
Processed, packaged foods labeled as organic have a more healthful profile than their conventional counterparts, says a new analysis of 80,000 food products conducted by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and published in the journal Nutrients.
The study focused on packaged foods, which EWG said accounts for more than 60% of the calories consumed in the U.S. The study analyzed nutrition and ingredient information for 8,240 organic and 72,205 conventional foods sold in the U.S. in 2019 and 2020. It is the most comprehensive study to date of the differences between non-organic, or conventional, packaged foods and those labeled as Certified Organic, said EWG.
According to the EWG study, organic packaged foods have fewer ultra-processed ingredients and additives that may promote overeating. EWG reported that the overall nutritional profile of organic foods is better, too, with less added sugar, saturated fat and sodium. Organic packaged foods contain more potassium, a heart-healthy nutrient found in fruits, vegetables and other unprocessed or minimally processed foods, EWG reported.
Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. packaged food and beverage supply in 2018 was ultra-processed, claimed EWG. This category of food makes up a significant source of calories for people over the age of two, and even higher for kids ages two to 19, EWG noted.