Foods With the Most (and Least) Exposure to Herbicides and Pesticides

As concern over the amount of pesticides and herbicides, like glyphosate, in foods grows, many Americans are trying to avoid these added chemicals by eating foods that are organic or have lower amounts of pesticides and herbicides. But which foods are the least exposed, and which are the most exposed to the hundreds of pesticides and herbicides sprayed on crops and other foods? The research team at Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers created the chart below that ranks a large variety of domestic and imported foods on the amount of pesticide and herbicide residue found on them. The thousands of food samples were analyzed by the FDA, and the findings were shared in their annual Pesticide Residue Monitoring Report. The food samples were also tested for compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pesticide tolerances; 96.8% of domestic and 88.4% of imported foods were found to be compliant with federal standards. Fruits and vegetables topped the list of foods with the highest rate of residue from herbicides and pesticides. Read on to see how fruits, vegetables, and other foods fared when tested for residue from the many herbicides and pesticides that are sprayed on our food.

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• Which Food Has the Most Exposure to Herbicides and Pesticides? 

Of the six different food commodity groups, fruits were found to have the highest percentage of samples with herbicide and pesticide residue for both domestic and imported foods, with the numbers coming in at 76.7% and 62.5% respectively. Vegetables were also found to have a high amount of herbicides and pesticides, with more than half of both the domestic and imported vegetable samples found to have residue. 

Which specific fruits, vegetables, and other food products have the highest rate of herbicide and pesticide residue? The domestic food with the highest rate of herbicide and pesticide residue was oranges, both the fruit and juice, as 100% of the 11 samples analyzed were found to have residue. Several other domestic foods with smaller sample sizes also had a rate of 100% of samples found with residue: cherry fruit/juice, broccoli, spinach, raspberry fruit/juice, hot peppers, apricot fruit/juice, peach fruit/juice, rice and rice products, and cucumbers. Of the imported foods, nectarine fruit/juice was found to have the most pesticide and herbicide residue, with 100% of the 17 samples analyzed covered in residue. Dragon fruit/juice was a close second, with 96.2% of the samples found to have residue; 53.8% of the dragon fruit samples violated federal standards for the amount of residue allowed on a food product. 

Foods with the highest rates of residue from herbicides and pesticides overall were: 

• Raspberry fruit/juice: 95.8% 
• Peach fruit/juice: 92.9% 
• Cucumbers: 85.2% 
• Hot peppers: 85.1% 
• Celery: 83.9% 
• Potatoes: 83.3% 
• Spinach: 82.2% 
• Pear fruit/juice: 81.8% 
• Kale: 80.1% 
• Cilantro: 77.8% 
• Strawberry fruit/juice: 72.6% 

• What Food Has the Least Exposure to Herbicides and Pesticides? 

Of the six commodity groups, the fish/shellfish/other aquatic category only had 8.6% of samples found with herbicide and pesticide residue. The milk/dairy/egg category was found to have zero samples with residue, but only one food sample was tested. 

Which specific foods were found to have no herbicide and pesticide residue on the samples? For domestic foods, five vegetables were found with no residue on any of the samples: cabbage, cauliflower, radishes, red beets, and asparagus. Of the imported food samples, only sweet potatoes and shellfish and crustaceans had 0% residue. Imported honey and honey products also had a low rate of exposure, with just 6.7% of the samples found with residue. 

Foods with the lowest rates of residue from herbicides and pesticides overall were:

• Cauliflower: 6% 
• Asparagus: 7.2% 
• Cranberry fruit/juice: 23.1% 
• Mushrooms and truffles: 26.1% 
• Oats and oat products: 26.7% 
• Edible seeds and seed products: 27.8% 
• Corn and corn products: 32.2% 

• What Are Herbicides?

Herbicides are chemicals that are used to control the growth of undesirable vegetation, like the weeds that grow among food crops. With fewer weeds taking resources from the crops, crop productivity is maximized. Herbicides are often used in crop farming and are applied multiple times throughout the growing process. 

The FDA tested many food samples for selected acid herbicides, glyphosate, glufosinate, and their degradation products. According to the EPA, glyphosate and atrazine are the most common herbicides used on crops and were applied to more than double the crop field acreage in the U.S. than the third leading herbicide. 

• What Is Glyphosate?

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the United States. Glyphosate was brought to the market by Monsanto in 1974 and has been used for agricultural weed control ever since. To go along with their glyphosate herbicide, Monsanto also introduced Roundup Ready crops, which were genetically modified to be resistant to glyphosate weed-killer. This led many farmers to start using the herbicide glyphosate for their agricultural weed control, with a 100-fold increase in use between the 1970s and 2016. 

Is glyphosate harmful to humans? Some studies have shown that large amounts of exposure to glyphosate can increase the risk of cancer, especially non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The EPA’s position is that Roundup does not cause cancer, although experts have begun to question their testing methods. The state of California does not agree with their position and officially added glyphosate to its list of carcinogens in 2017, making it one of best places in the U.S. to file a Roundup cancer lawsuit. 

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after exposure to Roundup in a residential or commercial setting, we encourage you to contact a member of our Roundup team today for a consultation. We can help determine if you have grounds for a lawsuit to help cover the medical costs involved in treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

• The Complete List of Foods With the Most and Least Exposure to Herbicides and Pesticides

Between Oct. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2020, the FDA tested 2,078 human food samples for 716 different pesticides, 27 selected acid herbicides, glyphosate, glufosinate, and their degradation products. The domestic food samples were collected from 35 states, and imported food samples were collected from 79 countries/economies; 87 different domestic foods and 299 different imported foods were tested and assigned to one of six commodity groups. The food samples were also tested for compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pesticide tolerances; 96.8% of domestic and 88.4% of imported foods were found to be compliant with federal standards. 

• Domestic and Imported Commodity Groups

Commodity Group	Number of Samples Analyzed	Percentage of Samples With Herbicide and Pesticide Residue	Percentage of Samples That Violated Federal Standards
Domestic Foods:	316	59.2%	3.2%
Grain and grain products	19	52.60%	0.00%
Fruits	86	76.70%	0.00%
Vegetables	167	59.90%	5.40%
Other food products	44	25.00%	2.30%
Imported Foods:	1,762	51.6%	11.6%
Grain and grain products	181	45.90%	18.20%
Milk/dairy/egg	1	0.00%	0.00%
Fish/shellfish/other aquatic products	35	8.60%	2.90%
Fruits	494	62.50%	10.50%
Vegetables	879	54.30%	12.20%
Other food products	172	21.50%	7.00%

• Imported Foods With the Most Exposure to Herbicides

Rank	Food	Number of Samples Analyzed	Percent of Samples With Herbicide and Pesticide Residue	Percent of Samples That Violated Federal Standards
1	Nectarine fruit/juice	17	100.0%	0.0%
2	Dragon fruit/juice	13	96.2%	53.8%
3	Raspberry fruit/juice	21	95.2%	9.5%
4	Bok choy/Chinese cabbage	15	93.3%	20.0%
5	Sweet peppers	42	92.9%	19.0%
6	Peach fruit/juice	13	92.3%	0.0%
7	Papaya fruit/juice	24	91.7%	4.2%
8	Blueberry fruit/juice	9	88.9%	0.0%
9	Cucumbers	26	84.6%	3.8%
10	Hot peppers	64	84.4%	21.9%
11	Kale	16	81.2%	6.2%
12	Lime fruit/juice	21	81.0%	19.0%
13	Pear fruit/juice	25	80.0%	0.0%
14	Potatoes	20	80.0%	20.0%
15	Celery	20	80.0%	10.0%
15	Lemon fruit/juice	5	80.0%	20.0%
17	Spinach	24	79.2%	0.0%
18	Cilantro	21	76.2%	9.5%
19	Strawberry fruit/juice	36	72.2%	8.3%
20	Pineapple fruit/juice	18	72.2%	11.1%

• Domestic Foods With the Most Exposure to Herbicides

	Food	Number of Samples Analyzed	Percent of Samples With Herbicide and Pesticide Residue	Percent of Samples That Violated Federal Standards
1	Orange fruit/juice	11	100.0%	0.0%
2	Cherry fruit/juice	5	100.0%	0.0%
3	Broccoli	4	100.0%	0.0%
3	Spinach	4	100.0%	0.0%
5	Raspberry fruit/juice	3	100.0%	0.0%
5	Hot peppers	3	100.0%	0.0%
7	Apricot fruit/juice	1	100.0%	0.0%
7	Peach fruit/juice	1	100.0%	0.0%
7	Rice and rice products	1	100.0%	0.0%
7	Cucumbers	1	100.0%	0.0%
11	Grape fruit/juice and raisins	14	92.9%	0.0%
12	Celery	11	90.9%	0.0%
13	Potatoes	10	90.0%	0.0%
14	Apple fruit/juice	16	87.5%	0.0%
15	Pear fruit/juice	8	87.5%	0.0%
16	Cilantro	6	83.3%	0.0%
17	Kale	5	80.0%	0.0%
18	Carrots	8	75.0%	0.0%
19	Strawberry fruit/juice	4	75.0%	0.0%
19	Wheat and wheat products	4	75.0%	0.0%

• Imported Foods With the Least Exposure to Herbicides

	Food	Number of Samples Analyzed	Percent of Samples With Herbicide and Pesticide Residue	Percent of Samples That Violated Federal Standards
1	Sweet potatoes	9	0.0%	0.0%
2	Shellfish and crustaceans	5	0.0%	0.0%
3	Honey and honey products	15	6.7%	0.0%
4	Asparagus	13	7.7%	0.0%
5	Fish and fish products	11	9.1%	9.1%
6	Olive oil	40	10.0%	7.5%
7	Broccoli	7	14.3%	0.0%
8	Cauliflower	20	15.0%	0.0%
9	Pecans	11	18.2%	0.0%
10	Taro	30	20.0%	20.0%
11	Vegetable oil	10	20.0%	10.0%
12	Oats and oat products	5	20.0%	0.0%
12	Cassava	5	20.0%	20.0%
14	Mushrooms/truffles/fungi	42	23.8%	16.7%
15	Orange fruit/juice	12	25.0%	0.0%
16	Cranberry fruit/juice	8	25.0%	0.0%
17	Edible seeds and seed products	68	27.9%	10.3%
18	Corn	24	29.2%	12.5%
19	Ginger	13	30.8%	23.1%
20	Mango fruit/juice	35	31.4%	11.4%

• Domestic Foods With the Least Exposure to Herbicides

	Food	Number of Samples Analyzed	Percent of Samples With Herbicide and Pesticide Residue	Percent of Samples That Violated Federal Standards
1	Cabbage	4	0.0%	0.0%
2	Cauliflower	3	0.0%	0.0%
3	Radishes	2	0.0%	0.0%
4	Red beets	1	0.0%	0.0%
5	Asparagus	1	0.0%	0.0%
6	Cranberry fruit/juice	5	20.0%	0.0%
7	Lettuce	4	25.0%	0.0%
7	Avocados	4	25.0%	0.0%
9	Edible seeds and seed products	11	27.3%	9.10%
10	Peas (green/snow/sugar/sweet)	7	28.6%	0.0%
11	Onions/leeks/scallions/shallots	7	28.6%	0.0%
12	Pumpkins	10	30.0%	0.0%
13	String beans (green/snap/pole/long)	3	33.3%	0.0%
14	Refined oil	23	34.8%	0.0%
15	Oats and oat products	5	40.0%	0.0%
16	Mushrooms and truffles	4	50.0%	0.0%
16	Corn and corn products	4	50.0%	0.0%
18	Swiss chard	2	50.0%	0.0%
18	Sweet peppers	2	50.0%	0.0%
20	Squash	5	60.00%	0.00%

With five times as many imported foods analyzed as domestic foods, the imported foods included in the rankings were limited to those with at least five analyzed samples. 

• Imported food that fell below the sample threshold but 100% of samples had herbicide and pesticide residue: collards (4)
• Imported foods that fell below the sample threshold but 0% of samples had herbicide and pesticide residue: coconut and coconut products (4), cashews (3), soybeans and soybean products (2), bitter melon (1), prickly pear fruit/juice (1), watermelon fruit/juice (1), eggs (1), mustard greens (1), pumpkins (1), red beets (1), artichokes (1), garlic (1)

Have You Been Injured by a Pesticide or Herbicide?

Call us today for a free consultation if you or a loved one has been injured or killed by a pesticide or herbicide such as paraquat or Roundup. You may qualify for financial compensation if you or a loved one developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after being exposed to Roundup or Parkinson’s disease after being exposed to paraquat. We won’t charge a fee to handle your pesticide/herbicide case until and unless we recover compensation for you. Call us today.

Related: paraquat lawsuit, class action representation for paraquat exposure, and how much are the paraquat lawsuit settlement amounts?

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