Large Majority of Food Remains Safe From Pesticides

(WASHINGTON, DC) A recent Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report has found an overwhelming majority of domestic and imported food to be safe from pesticides. According to the Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, the vast majority of samples tested contained residues below the tolerance levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During FY17, FDA tested for almost 800 pesticides and industrial chemicals across 65-hundred samples. For human food, 96 percent of the domestic and 90 percent of the imported food samples were in compliance with federal pesticide residue standards. In addition, no pesticide residues were found in 53 percent of domestic and 50 percent of imported human food samples analyzed. Food for animal consumption faired slightly better with 99 percent of the domestic and 94 percent of the imported animal food samples were in compliance. FDA found absolutely no pesticide chemical residues in 41 percent of the domestic and 52 percent of the imported animal food samples.