Survey of imported green coffee beans for pesticide residues

The US Food and Drug Administration carries out incidence/level monitoring in order to acquire data on the presence and amounts of pesticide residues in particular commodity/chemical combinations. In the survey reported here, imported green coffee beans were analysed for a variety of pesticide chemicals. A total of 60 green coffee samples were collected from 21 countries that are major exporters of coffee to the United States. The samples were analysed for organochlorine/organophosphorus, N-methyl carbamate, benomyl group and EBDC residues. Four samples had detectable residues: chlorpyrifos, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.04 ppm and pirimiphos-methyl, 0.01 ppm. The majority (93%) of the green coffee samples analysed in this survey had no detectable pesticide residues.