Presently, more than 25,000 pesticide products are on the market and the EPA has approved 350 for food use. Uses Potentially Affected by the Delaney Clause of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. USDA will continue to monitor meat, poultry and egg products. FDA tests about 11,000 domestic and imported food items each year for pesticide residues. Sampling is done early in the food production process to prevent distribution of illegal residues.
Emphasis is given to food commodities of major dietary importance.
Monitoring efforts show that pesticides seldom appear in food at unsafe levels. The major debate in settling residue limits will center on the risk of chronic exposure to extremely low doses of pesticides over time. FQPA law requires an explicit determination that tolerances are safe for children up to ten-fold if necessary. This stipulation is in addition to the already conservative tolerances set for raw agricultural commodities in 40CFR S180. Additionally, the new pesticide residue standard will be the same for raw and processed foods.