Eat Up – FDA Says 59% Of Us Foods Tested Contain Pesticide Residues

Pesticide residues were detected in 59% of US food samples tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its most recently completed annual sampling program, the agency revealed in a newly released report.

April 1, 2023 | Source: UnSpun | by Carey Gillam

Pesticide residues were detected in 59% of US food samples tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its most recently completed annual sampling program, the agency revealed in a newly released report.

Roughly 77% of domestic fruits sampled by the agency contained pesticide residues, and 60% of US vegetable samples also contained residues. About 53% of US grains sampled showed residues.

The agency said that overall it analyzed 2,078 human food samples, 84% of which were imported from other countries. The sampling found that 51.6% of imported foods contained pesticide residues compared to 59.2% of domestic US foods.

The new report is for the fiscal year 2020 and shows that residue detection is up slightly over 2019’s analysis. The FDA’s 2019 report found that 57.6% of domestic samples had pesticide residues. Imported foods analyzed for the 2019 report showed 50.6% with residues.