By David Fairfield, Senior Vice President, Feed
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Sept. 4 released its annual Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Report for Fiscal Year 2022, detailing the testing of FDA-regulated foods for pesticide residues. The report reveals that the vast majority of samples tested were in compliance with pesticide regulations set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The report indicates FDA tested 2,800 human foods and 230 animal foods during Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022 (FY 2022) for 757 different pesticides and selected industrial compounds. FDA found that 96.2 percent of domestic and 89.5 percent of imported human foods were compliant with pesticide tolerances set by EPA. No pesticide residues were found in 42.7 percent of the domestic samples and 44.6 percent of imported samples. For animal food, the agency found that 95.6 percent of domestic samples and 100 percent of imported samples were compliant with pesticide tolerances. No pesticide residues were found in 38.1 percent of the domestic animal food samples and 50.4 percent of the imported animal food samples.
In FY 2022, FDA conducted pesticide analyses for a focused “Domestically Produced Animal-Derived Foods” assignment. In doing so, FDA collected and analyzed 96 samples of selected animal-derived domestic foods, consisting of 36 milk, 30 shell egg, 15 honey, and 15 game meat samples. No violative pesticide chemical residues were found in 99 percent of the animal-derived foods, and 90.6 percent of the samples contained no pesticide residues.
Companies that grow and produce foods and manufacture products intended for use as food that are sold in the U.S. are responsible for following applicable EPA and FDA regulations. To protect public health, FDA’s pesticide residue monitoring program samples and tests FDA-regulated foods shipped in interstate commerce to determine whether they comply with the pesticide tolerances for food, or maximum residue levels, set by the EPA. If the FDA finds that the amount of pesticide residue on a food is over the tolerance, or when a pesticide is found and there is no tolerance established, the FDA can take action.
More information about FDA’s pesticide monitoring program and previous years’ reports are available on the agency’s website.