The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released the report for its fiscal year (FY) 2021 pesticide residue monitoring program, summarizing findings from FDA testing of human and animal foods for approximately 750 different pesticides and selected industrial compounds between October 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021.
It is the legal responsibility of companies that produce and grow foods and manufacture products sold in the U.S. and intended for food use to comply with applicable U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and FDA regulations. To protect public health, the FDA’s pesticide residue monitoring program tests FDA-regulated foods shipped in interstate commerce to determine whether they comply with the pesticide tolerances, or maximum residue levels, set by 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. For FY 2021, findings show that the levels of pesticide chemical residues in the U.S. food supply are generally in compliance with EPA pesticide tolerances.