Pesticide residues Bananas

In total, 12,264 samples were collected and analyzed for pesticide residues in the 2001 PDP (USDA, 2003). Specific fruits and vegetables analyzed in the 2001 PDP included apples, bananas, broccoli, carrots, celery, cherries, grapes, green beans, lettuce, mushrooms, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pineapples, potatoes, canned sweet corn, canned sweet peas, and canned tomato paste. Fruits and vegetable samples were taken most commonly (9903 samples), followed by beef (911 samples), enriched milled rice (689 samples), poultry (464... 

Pesticide residue compliance monitoring programmes analyse individual foods as purchased (i.e. bananas, including skin meat, raw, etc.). Because a smaller range of foods are generally targeted, sample numbers per commodity are generally more robust than in a TDS. Any pesticide residues found are checked for compliance with the MRL for that commodity, which has been set to reflect GAP. 

The use of aldicarb has a double impact on people, firstly via poisonings, animal kills or water poisoning and then secondly the residue scandal which can cause economic dislocation in the banana industry past experience shows that embargoes, product recalls and declines in consumption caused by pesticide residue problems often have drastic effects on communities. 

Removal of surface layers may, in crops such as bananas, pineapples, kiwi, citruses, melons and others, result in a marked reduction in the levels of non-systemic pesticide residues applied directly to the crop... 

In a 1991 report by Rhone-Poulenc to the Environmental Protection Agency, dangerous residues of aldicarb, an acutely toxic pesticide, were found in bananas grown in Latin America, exceeding the US tolerance at levels up to 10 times the legal limit. 

---