Rr. Roy et al., US FOOD-AND-DRUG-ADMINISTRATION PESTICIDE PROGRAM - INCIDENCE LEVEL MONITORING OF DOMESTIC AND IMPORTED PEARS AND TOMATOES, Journal of AOAC International, 78(4), 1995, pp. 930-940
In 1992-1993, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a
statistically based study of pesticide residues in domestic and import
ed pears and tomatoes, For pears, 710 domestic and 949 imported sample
s were collected and analyzed; 79% of the domestic and 72% of the impo
rted samples had detectable residues, Thiabendazole, a fungicide with
postharvest uses, was found with greatest frequency in both groups of
pears, Four domestic and 12 imported samples contained violative resid
ues, mainly of pesticides for which there are no U.S. tolerances on pe
ars. The statistically weighted (by shipment size) violation rates for
domestic and imported pears were 1.0 and 0.9%, respectively, For toma
toes, 1219 domestic and 144 imported samples were collected and analyz
ed; 84% of the domestic and 91% of the imported samples had detectable
residues, Methamidophos, an insecticide, had the greatest frequency o
f occurrence in both groups of tomatoes, Thirty-three domestic and 5 i
mported samples were violative, nearly all the result of acephate use,
for which there is no U.S. tolerance on tomatoes, The statistically w
eighted violation rates for domestic and imported tomatoes were 1.9 an
d 7.0%, respectively, The statistically weighted violation rates calcu
lated for domestic and imported pears and domestic tomatoes in this st
udy were lower than those observed under FDA's regulatory monitoring i
n recent years, The violation rate for imported tomatoes was somewhat
higher under statistical monitoring than under regulatory monitoring,
The results of the statistically based study show that, as in regulato
ry monitoring, the levels of pesticide residues found are generally we
ll below U.S. tolerances.