Whether as a hiking snack or part of a child’s lunch, fruit leather is a product loved for its convenience. But according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), fruit leathers can contain high concentrations of pesticides and consumers should choose fruit that is both organic and fresh — not dried.
In 2021 and 2022, EWG commissioned laboratory tests of 37 samples of organic and non-organic fruit leather from 10 brands and 30 samples of dried fruit from 16 brands, including fruit leather from 365 Whole Foods Market, Bear, Bob Snail, Good & Gather, Stretch Island, That’s It and Trader Joe’s.
The high concentrations of pesticides are because agricultural chemicals are sprayed on the fruit from which the fruit leather is made.
Eden Research plc (LON:EDEN) is an AIM-quoted company focussed on sustainable biopesticides and plastic-free encapsulation technology for the use in global crop protection, animal health and consumer products industries.