While food safety recalls and the outcomes of foodborne illnesses can command much media attention, annual reports like the one just released from the USDA point to the efforts of U.S. farmers and food producers to sell safe food products.
A lengthy report titled Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary for the 2024 calendar year revealed that in 2024, "over 99 percent of the samples tested had residues below safe and acceptable chemical residue tolerances established by the EPA with 42.3 percent having no detectable residue."
Testing of nearly 10,000 samples of fresh and processed fruit, nuts, and vegetables looked for residues of various herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and other classes of chemicals used in agricultural production. According to the report, chemical residues exceeding federal tolerance levels were detected in 0.77% (76 samples) of the total of 9,872 samples tested. Of these 76 samples, 12 were domestic (15.8%), 63 were imported (82.9%), and 1 was of unknown origin (1.3%). Residues with no established tolerance were found in 3.7% (361 samples) of the total samples tested. Of these 361 samples, 118 were domestic (32.7%), 230 were imported (63.7%), and 13 were of unknown origin (3.6%).
Just over 60% of samples tested were produced domestically. Much of the rest were from imports, and less than 1% were of unknown or mixed national origin.
Read more at Farm Progress
