Peaches are still the worst offenders when it comes to the amount of pesticide and chemical residue left on the fruit by the time it makes its way to the supermarket shelf, whilst onions remain at the bottom of the most recent 'dirty dozen' list, just released by the Environmental Working Group to replace last year's version.

The shopper's guide to pesticides is a handy list that helps you know which fresh produce to buy organic, and which conventionally-grown fruits and veg are still okay, if you can't buy get them organically grown. The guide, which is based on American government test data, lists the produce most likely to have pesticide residue.

The worst offenders (dirty dozen with the most pesticide residue) are:

1 peach
2 apple
3 bell pepper (green pepper here)
4 celery
5 nectarine
6 strawberries
7 cherries
8 kale
9 lettuce
10 grapes
11 carrot
12 pear

Interestingly, last year's list didn't even feature kale in the top offenders, while carrots have moved up the list (they were no 13 last year)

Those lowest in pesticides:

1 onion
2 avocado
3 sweet corn
4 pineapple
5 mango
6 asparagus
7 sweet peas
8 kiwi
9 cabbage
10 eggplant
11 papaya
12 watermelon
13 broccoli
14 tomato
15 sweet potato

Bananas used to be one of the lowest offenders (so not the end of the world if you couldn't get them organic), right down at number 37 on the list of 45 fruit and veg ranked worst to best last year. This year the list has lengthened to 47 and bananas have moved right up to 27.

EWG's survey is obviously American and applies to American farming, but it does give you a really good idea of which foods get the worst brunt of pesticides and which foods are likely to be offenders here in South Africa.

We had last year's list of 45 printed out and stuck on our wall, but I confess the new pocket guide will make life a little easier (where were strawberries on the list again?!)

Click here for the handy pocket guide
Click here for the full list of 47