Synthetic Chemicals in Vegetable Products

The pesticides found in vegetable products are given in Exhibit 9, and the industrial chemicals are given in Exhibit 10. Compared to both dairy and protein products, the vegetable foods contain far fewer industrial chemicals except for those foods that are (1) oils (i.e., olive/safflower oil and margarine) or fired in oils (i.e., french fries and potato chips) and (2) mechanically handled or sorted (i.e., tomatoes and avocados). Vegetables are, however, contaminated with a significant number of diverse insecticides and herbicides. 

The chlorinated endosulfan insecticides contaminate 75 percent of all the vegetable products and account for 70 percent of the detected pesticides. Since 2002, the use of endosulfan insecticides on succulent beans and peas, spinach, and grapes has been discontinued. Even with this discontinuation, however, the majority of vegetable products are still expected to be contaminated with endosulfan pesticides. 

Exhibit 9 shows that many of the vegetable products contain banned pesticides. These data show that 33 vegetable products are contaminated with banned pesticides, whereas 21 or 47 percent of the vegetable products are contaminated with multiple banned pesticides. This widespread contamination transcends the five recommended vegetable groups that are included in a balanced diet. For example  

Banned Pesticides Note FF = Fast-food, F = Frozen  

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