New Pesticide Testing Data Touts U.S. Food Supply as “One of the Safest in the World”
In mid-February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS) Pesticide Data Program (PDP) released its 2016 Annual Summary. The data collected is an analysis of pesticide residues detected on various domestic and imported foods. PDP is particularly concerned with analyzing foods that are primarily consumed by infants and children.
According to AMS, “The PDP annual summary provides reliable data to help assure consumers that the food they feed themselves and their families is safe.” In short, the 2016 report shows that when pesticides are detected, they are almost always present at levels below the limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency--the agency with which USDA works with to test foods for pesticides. This means that the U.S. food supply is “one of the safest in the world,” says AMS.