Pesticide residues are an important and often controversial issue in the food industry. In the U.S., pesticides are defined as a substance or mixture that is intended to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate any pest. Pesticides are used throughout conventional and organic agriculture and play a critical role in controlling public health, economic, and nuisance pests in many settings, spanning from pre-harvest use in crops to packinghouses, transportation, retail, and restaurants. Pesticides also range widely in their toxicity, requiring a high degree of regulatory structure for approval in the marketplace. This article covers how residue levels are regulated in the U.S., who regulates them, the global scientific framework for trade, and how residues fit into food safety regimes.
Pesticide applications can leave trace chemical levels, called residues, in raw or processed foods. Typically, residue levels range from non-detectable to parts per million. Since we intentionally apply pesticides to our food supply, a system has been established over decades to determine an acceptable level of residue that does not pose an unreasonable risk to consumers. This acceptable level depends on toxicity, type of food consumed, application method, and several other factors. In some cases, certain pesticides are deemed to be unsuitable for use on human food and animal feed because they pose an unacceptable risk to consumers, farmworkers, animals, or the environment.