September 15, 2020

USDA Report Confirms Safe Level of Pesticide Residues

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) released its annual Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Report for FY 2018. In the report, USDA cited that 97 percent of domestic food samples had either no detectable pesticide residues or the residue levels were considered within tolerances established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program is administered by the FDA to ensure that FDA-regulated foods in U.S. commerce comply with the pesticide tolerances, or maximum residue levels, set by the EPA. The agency tested for a total of 809 pesticides and industrial chemicals across 4,896 domestic and imported food samples collected in FY 2018. Of the samples tested, the majority were in compliance with the tolerances set by the EPA.

This report once again demonstrates that most of the food samples tested continue to consistently be well below EPA standards. This is a positive finding for both the produce industry and consumers.

For more information, read FDA’s official announcement about the program report here: https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fdas-fy-2018-pesticide-analysis-demonstrates-consistent-trends.