1. To ID Phony Health Foods… try Fooducate This app, which comes with a barcode scanner to use at supermarkets, grades packaged food in terms of its healthiness, and it also alerts you to health food imposters that contain high fructose corn syrup, harmful additives, trans fats, and other sketchy ingredients.
Good for: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android compatible
Find it: fooducate.com
Price: $0 to $3.99 (depending on the version)
2. For When to Buy Organic… try EWG’s 2012 Shopper’s Guide Ever year, the Environmental Working Group wades through US Department of Agriculture data on levels of pesticides found on common produce. The result? Their much-hyped “Dirty Dozen” list of foods you should always buy organic, and their “Clean 15″ list of foods that are OK to buy conventionally grown. Download their app to always keep this info handy when you’re shopping.
Good for: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android and Windows Phone compatible
Find it: ewg.org/foodnews
Price: Free
3. For Safe and Sustainable Fish… try Seafood Watch One fish, two fish, red fish…oh, who even knows anymore? Skip the confusion about what seafood is safe—and sustainable—with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch app. It tells you which fish are plentiful, which are on the brink of extinction, and which are so polluted with mercury and PCBs that you shouldn’t touch them with a 10-foot pole. It even has a handy Sushi Guide to help you navigate the raw-fish counter with ease.
Good for: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android compatible
Find it: montereybayaquarium.org
Price: Free
4. To Pick the Freshest Produce… try Harvest Should you sniff strawberries or check out their color? Are you really supposed to thump a watermelon or shake an avocado? Consult with Harvest, an app that doles out tips on picking out the best produce. The app also tells you the best ways to store your purchases.
Good for: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad compatible
Find it: harvest-app.com
Price: $1.99
5. Non-GMO Project Shopping Guide Kick frankenfoods out of your shopping basket for good. The nonprofit Non-GMO Project actually tests foods for genetically modified (GMO) ingredients, which have been genetically altered to resist the most toxic pesticides on the market, and as a result, may interfere with your nerves and hormones. GMO ingredients may also trigger food allergies and possibly worse. This app lists GMO-free products and brands, and even lets you know about the retailers that have pledged to sell only non-GMO foods.
Good for: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad compatible
Find it: nongmoproject.org
Price: Free
6. What’s on My Food?
From apples and almonds to yams and zucchini, this extensive list of more than 90 foods helps you figure out which produce items are most likely to be contaminated with toxic pesticides linked to ADHD, autism, certain cancers, and other health problems. Brought to you by Pesticide Action Network, this app goes far beyond traditional dirty dozen lists and helps you compare pesticide levels on organic versus conventional crops. New in the upgraded version? A honeybee icon that helps you avoid produce items that likely harbor pesticides linked to colony collapse disorder.
Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad compatible
Price: Free
Read More: The Worst Summer Fruits
7. Dirty Dozen
Paranoid about your pesticide intake? Look no further than the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen app, which helps you determine which foods you should always buy organic and which conventionally grown foods have the lowest pesticide residues. The nonprofit painstakingly pores over U.S. Department of Agriculture data every year to come up with its “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists. While it’s best to buy organic as much as you can to reduce pesticides that wind up in our air, soil, and water, this app makes it easier to know which foods are safe when organic isn’t widely available.
Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone compatible
Price: Free
Read More: Is Your Grocery List Toxic?
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