Organic food and pesticide residues

On the farm, a crop can be labeled as organic if it is produced on land where no prohibited substances have been applied for a minimum of three years prior to harvest. Animal products labeled as organic must come from livestock that have been fed organic feed, raised using humane animal husbandry systems, and that have not be treated with synthetic medications, except under very limited conditions set forth in the national list. 

Processed food products that are labeled as 100% organic must be made from agricultural commodities and ingredients that are all certified organic. 

Further insight on the frequency of multiple residues is evident in Table 14.4, which shows the number of residues found per sample for selected foods tested in 2004 by the PDP. Conventional apples were found to contain, on average, 3.6 residues, while the one positive organic sample had a very minute level of the post-harvest fungicide thiabendazole. The level of residue found in the one positive organic apple sample was 0.0002 parts per million, while the mean thiabendazole residue found in 641 positive conventional samples was 0.43 ppm, over 2100 times higher than the level found in the organic sample. 

Number of samples Number of positives Positive (%) Number of samples Number of positives Positive (%) Number of samples Number of Positive (%) positives 

Dietary exposure to pesticides from organic and conventional food 273 

---