Monitoring of domestic and imported apples and rice by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pesticide program

In 1993-94, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a statistically based study of pesticide residues in domestic and imported fresh apples and processed rice. For apples, 769 domestic and 1062 imported samples were collected and analyzed; 85% of the domestic and 86% of the imported samples had detectable residues. Benomyl, a widely used fungicide, was found with greatest frequency in domestic apples, while diphenylamine was found most often in imported apples. One domestic and 4 imported samples contained violative residues of pesticides for which there are no U.S. tolerances on apples. The statistically weighted (by domestic packer throughput or import shipment size) violation rates for domestic and imported apples were 0.30% (0.13 unweighted) and 0.41% (0.38 unweighted), respectively. For rice, 598 domestic and 612 imported samples were collected and analyzed; 56% of the domestic and 12% of the imported samples had detectable residues. Malathion had the greatest frequency of occurrence in both groups of rice. Eight domestic and 9 imported samples were violative, all as a result of use of pesticides for which there are no U.S. tolerances on rice. The statistically weighted violation rates for domestic and imported rice were 0.43% (1.3 unweighted) and 1.1% (1.5 unweighted), respectively. Results of the statistically based study show that, as in FDA's regulatory monitoring, the levels of most pesticide residues found in these 2 commodities are generally well below U.S. tolerances, and few violative residues are found.