On August 10, 2022, FDA announced that it had published its Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Report for Fiscal Year 2020. The report summarizes FDA’s findings from the program’s monitoring of human and animal foods from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.

FDA tested for approximately 750 different pesticides and industrial compounds on 2,078 human food samples and 102 animal food samples. The results showed that the levels of pesticide residues measured by FDA were generally in compliance with the pesticide tolerances set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Specifically, FDA found that 96.8% of domestic and 88.4% of import human foods were compliant with the standards. For animal foods, 100% of domestic and 96.8% of import samples complied with the standards.

The Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program is intended to ensure that FDA-regulated foods comply with the pesticide tolerances that are set by EPA. FDA has prepared annual pesticide reports to summarize the results of the agency’s monitoring program since 1987. Previous reports can be accessed here.