85% of tested foods in U.S. have pesticide residues
Staff Writer |
according to the Pesticide Data Program report issued this month by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.
The report is the 25th annual such compilation of residue data for the agency, and covered sampling the USDA did in 2015.
Notably, the agency said only 15 percent of the 10,187 samples tested were free from any detectable pesticide residues.
That's a marked difference from 2014, when the USDA found that more than 41 percent of samples were "clean" or showed no detectable pesticide residues. Prior years also showed roughly 40 - New U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data shows residues of many types of bug-killing pesticides, fungicides and weed killing chemicals have been found in roughly 85 percent of the thousands of foods tested.
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The data shows varying levels of pesticide residues in everything from mushrooms to potatoes and grapes to green beans.
One sample of strawberries contained residues of 20 pesticides, according to the Pesticide Data Program report issued this month by the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.
The report is the 25th annual such compilation of residue data for the agency, and covered sampling the USDA did in 2015.
Notably, the agency said only 15 percent of the 10,187 samples tested were free from any detectable pesticide residues.
That's a marked difference from 2014, when the USDA found that more than 41 percent of samples were "clean" or showed no detectable pesticide residues. Prior years also showed roughly 40-50 percent of samples as free of detectable residues, according to USDA data.
The USDA said it is not "statistically valid" to compare one year to others, however, because the mix of food sampled changes each year. Still the data shows that 2015 was similar to the years prior, in that fresh and processed fruits and vegetables made up the bulk of the foods tested.
Though it might sound distasteful, the pesticide residues are nothing for people to worry about, according to the USDA. The agency said "residues found in agricultural products sampled are at levels that do not pose risk to consumers' health and are safe." ■
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