Food and Pesticides

Pesticides are widely used in producing food to control pests such as insects, rodents, weeds, bacteria, mold and fungus.

Under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA), EPA must ensure that all pesticides used on food in the United States meet FQPA's stringent safety standard. FQPA requires an explicit determination that a pesticide’s use on food is safe for children and includes an additional safety factor, tenfold unless data show a different factor to be protective, to account for uncertainty in data relative to children.
The science and our understanding of chemical risk evolves and EPA continues to reevaluate each pesticide’s safety every 15 years. EPA’s continuous reevaluation of registered pesticides, combined with strict FQPA standards, major improvements in science, and an increase in the use of safer, less toxic pesticides, has led to an overall trend of reduced risk from pesticides.

Learn more about what EPA is doing to ensure that food is safe from pesticides:

Is food grown using pesticides safe to eat?

What has EPA done to decrease or restrict the amount of pesticides in food?

ow does EPA regulate pesticides in food?

Where can I find more information on pesticides in food?

Is food grown using pesticides safe to eat?

EPA is confident that the fruits and vegetables our children are eating are safer than ever. Under FQPA, EPA evaluates new and existing pesticides to ensure that they can be used with a reasonable certainty of no harm to infants and children as well as adults. EPA works continually to review and improve safety standards that apply to pesticide residues on food.

It is important to note though, that just because a pesticide residue is detected on a fruit or vegetable, that does not mean it is unsafe. Very small amounts of pesticides that may remain in or on fruits, vegetables, grains, and other foods decrease considerably as crops are harvested, transported, exposed to light, washed, prepared and cooked. The presence of a detectible pesticide residue does not mean the residue is at an unsafe level. USDA’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP) detects residues at levels far lower than those that are considered health risks.