U.S. FDA study finds over half of the imported food in the U.S. contains harmful pesticides

In its recent findings published in August 2022 by U.S. FDA as a part of ongoing 2020 Pesticide Residue Monitoring Report, it is estimated that more than half of all the food samples tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) contain the residues of at least one pesticide, and one in ten samples have levels that violate legal limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Out of 2,078 samples tested, 316 were domestic and 1,762 were from imported food. Of the 316 domestic food samples, 59.2% contained the residue of at least one pesticide, and 3.2% were in violation of EPA pesticide tolerances. Import samples totaled 1,762, of which over 50% contained at least one pesticide residue, and 11.6% were in violation.