Pesticides, maximum permissible food

Despite the fact that the average consumption of pesticides are still low in India, (05kg ha-1) against 6.6 and 12kg ha-1 in Korea and Japan, respectively, there has been widespread contamination of food commodities with pesticide residues, basically due to their non-judicious use. In a recent review Gupta (2004) has stated that in India, 51% of food commodities are contaminated with pesticide residues and out of these, 20% have residues above the maximum permissible residue levels on a worldwide basis. 

Regulation of permissible pesticide levels in food, water, air, and soil presents a special problem. A maximum permissible level (MPL) is set for each food that may contain a pesticide residue, according to the amount of that food consumed in daily nutrition. Pesticide concentrations that are less than the MPL will not change the food s palatability or nutritive value. Milk, berries (black currants, raspberries, and strawberries) and other products for children s and dietetic nutrition are forbidden to have pesticide residues. The acceptable daily intake (ADI) covers not only the foods that may contain residues but also allows for possible pesticide entry from water and air. For foods that under proper application methods will have residues that do not exceed the ADI, the MPL is set from actual conditions to permit a low level of pesticide content. The Instructions present examples of substantiated MPLs for foods, established on the basis of daily consumption rates and observed residues. 

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