The latest report, which has been released by USDA, last Monday confirms the previously mentioned fact that pesticide residues are not a food safety concern in the United States.
The annual Pesticide Data Program Report, which contains data from food samples collected in 2014, has revealed that food with low pesticide residue levels is safe and that it will not even pose a health risk to children or infants.
Although it seems straightforward, and the report has been accepted well by the citizens, reactions from the users have been muted on the topic.
Notably, the test for pesticides was executed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 10,619 samples in 2014, which included 314 samples of oats, 1,055 samples of infant formula, 314 samples of rice, 8,852 samples of fresh produce (vegetables and fruits), and 354 samples of salmon, according to reports from Food Safety News.
The list of fresh produce which was tested, consisted of apples, blueberries (frozen and fresh), bananas, broccoli, celery, carrots, cherries (fresh and frozen), green beans, (frozen, fresh and canned), grape juice, nectarines, peaches, strawberries, sweet corn (frozen and fresh), summer squash, tomatoes and watermelon, according to the report.
As for the production, 75.5 percent were domestically produced samples, while 22.9 percent were imports, 0.7 percent was of mixed origin and 0.9 percent was of unknown source.
When questioned why USDA did not test for pesticides like glyphosate, which is a herbicide used in field crops, USDA mentioned that the testing procedure for fresh produce differs from that of "broad spectrum of metabolites, pesticides and isomers.
However, USDA's administrators claim that lack of funding has resulted in not testing the residues of herbicides and pesticides in field crops. The officials of USDA also claimed that more funding is needed to test the ground water, bottled water and municipal water supplies.
