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USDA reports high pesticide residue compliance in 2015
Nov. 28, 2016
The newly released U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2015 Pesticide Data Program summary shows that more than 99% of the samples tested had pesticide residues well below the residue levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency and 15% of samples had no detectable residues.
In 2015, fresh and processed fruit and vegetables accounted for 96.9% of the total 10,187 samples collected, according to the summary of the 193-page report.
Commodities tested were: apples, cherries (fresh and frozen), cucumbers, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, lettuce, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, sweet corn (fresh and frozen), tomatoes and watermelon.
“The Pesticide Data Program uses rigorous sampling and advanced methods to test a wide variety of domestic and imported foods, helping ensure that the U.S. food supply is one of the safest in the world,” Ruihong Guo, deputy administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service Science and Technology Program, said in the release. “The new 2015 report includes data from over 10,000 samples, giving consumers confidence that the products they buy for their families are safe and wholesome.”
The pesticide data USDA publishes gives regulators, growers, processors, manufacturers, consumers and scientists insights on the level of pesticides found on widely consumed foods, according to the release.
Domestic samples accounted for 76.1% of the samples while 23% were imports, and 0.9% were of unknown origin.
Residues exceeding the established tolerance were detected in 0.53% (54 samples) of the 10,817 samples tested. Of these 54 samples, 18 were imported (33%) and 36 were domestic (67%).
The USDA said residues with no established tolerance were found in 3.9% (394 samples) of the total samples. Of these 394 samples, 259 were domestic (65.7%), 129 were imported (32.8%), and 6 were of unknown origin (1.5%).
Source: USDA
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