To protect public health, the FDA’s Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program tests FDA-regulated foods shipped in interstate commerce to determine whether they comply with pesticide tolerances, or maximum residue levels, set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). If the FDA finds that the amount of pesticide residue on a food is over the tolerance, or when a pesticide is found and there is no tolerance established, the FDA can take action. Sara McGrath, PhD, is a chemist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Human Foods Program. She is in the Office of Food Chemical Safety, Dietary Supplements, and Innovation where she focuses on monitoring chemical contaminants in foods broadly, with a focus on pesticides.

• 
  
• To learn more about the FDA’s work to monitor the food supply for safe levels of pesticides, visit Pesticides.
  
• You can find the FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program’s annual reports and accompanying data here: Pesticide Residue Monitoring Program Reports and Data.