CHANGING TARGETS IN PESTICIDE MONITORING

摘要

For much of the past 37 years, the Delaney clause (USC 409) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) has been causing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) problems because of its rigid and in some ways unscientific approach to preventing the presence of carcinogenic additives, including some pesticide residues, in processed foods. Without first defining any lower threshold level for cancer rates, the clause prohibits the establishment of allowable levels or "tolerances" in processed foods for food additives determined to "cause cancer in man or animals." One important complication of the clause for both agencies is that pesticide residues that are allowed in the raw produce may concentrate during processing. Such residues are considered food additives under Delaney.