Putting the Risk in Scale

Residue rankings can sound alarming, but the amounts involved are tiny. Studies that model real diets find a child would have to eat hundreds of servings of the most-sprayed fruit in a single day before residues approached a level of concern. No one eats like that, so the everyday risk from food alone stays very small.

You can shrink that small number further at the sink:

• Rinse under running water and rub the surface — this lifts off much of what sits on the skin
• Peel apples, cucumbers, or potatoes when residue worries you, since most of it clings to the outer layer
• Trim outer leaves from cabbage and lettuce before eating.