Question: I read some bad stuff about strawberries and the pesticides used; will you give some guidance on whether or not strawberries should be a staple in the fruit department at our house?

Sharon Mollerus via Compfight

Absolutely! Strawberries are very nutritious. They are a great source of vitamin C and fiber. They also have folate, potassium, and antioxidants. I know that no one is debating strawberries being nutritious, but everyone is discussing the pesticides on strawberries.

This is because strawberries are listed as one of the “dirty dozen” foods. (Click here for the Environmental Working Group’s list.) This means that it is one of the top twelve foods that has the most pesticides on it. Therefore it is recommended to buy organic strawberries. This theoretically should prevent you and your children from consuming pesticides making strawberries perfectly safe to consume.

The reason that you have heard about strawberries is the controversial pesticide methyl iodide. Methyl Iodide is actually used in research labs to give rats cancer. (Yikes!) It is known to cause cancer and late term miscarriages. Therein lies the controversy. (Really? Someone out there thinks this is safe?) Methyl Bromide was being used before, but it was damaging the ozone. So methyl iodide was the next pesticide chosen. This seriously makes me shake my head and wonder who makes such decisions that they would put the danger of the ozone ahead of the health of our population. (Seriously people.) Apparently other people finally agreed that this pesticide was too hazardous to be used. It was pulled from use in March 2012. From what I have read there were very few farms actually using methyl iodide anyways.

More and more farmers are trying to find alternate ways to grow strawberries. If you do buy conventional strawberries, they will have pesticides on them. But the pesticide levels will be below the standard set by the USDA.

I would definitley recommend that strawberries remain a staple in your house, but I would encourage you to seriously consider buying organic if that is an option for you. Especially if you have little children.

Thanks for asking!