A great website for determining the pesticide load on foods and what foods to by organic is called “What’s On My Food”.
From the website:
What’s On My Food? is designed to allow you a deep look into the USDA PDP results, linked up with all the information on pesticides that we have compiled over many years of studying them. The data and search functionality here allow you to see what levels of pesticide residues are on your food, in what combinations, and with what associated health risks.
We begin with the tests on tens of thousands of samples that USDA has performed as part of the Pesticide Data Program. Between 1992 and 2007, 89 different foods have been tested for pesticide residues. USDA often tests the same foods in different years. Since older tests aren’t as relevant for the food you eat today, this website contains data only for the test years 1999 to 2007.
The USDA test results in the database can be searched for three kinds of information:
- How often is a pesticide residue found in a food?
- On average, how much of a pesticide residue is found in a food?
- What is the maximum amount of a pesticide residue in a food?
Ideally, there would be hundreds of tests for every combination of food and residue, but in practice there are not always that many. When there are very few measurements, the queries become unreliable. To only show reliable results, when there are fewer than five measurements, the What’s On My Food? website puts “N/A” instead of a number.
What’s On My Food? also allows you to compare organic, conventional, domestic and imported test results. USDA has some other categories in addition to organic and conventional, but there are so few tests in those categories that we have not included them.
