A 2009-2010 study on pesticide residues in fresh fruit and vegetables found that 99.6% of fresh fruit and vegetables tested met Health Canada standards for pesticide residues. This study was funded under the Government of Canada Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan announced in 2007.
For the study, the CFIA collected 3,078 samples of apples, small berries, leafy greens and tomatoes and analyzed them for over 400 different pesticide residues. Broken down by category, 100% of apple products tested complied with Health Canada standards, 99.5% of small berries, 98.5% of leafy greens and 99.6% of tomatoes.
In another CFIA study conducted in 2008-2009 under the National Chemical Residue Monitoring Program (NCRMP), the overall compliance rate for a variety of chemical residues was over 99%. According to CFIA, these results are consistent with previous years.
In 2008-2009, a total of nearly 160,000 tests were performed on over 20,000 samples (domestic and imported), producing over 3 million results.
The CFIA routinely tests various food products for specific hazards to determine whether they pose a potential health risk to consumers. If a human health risk is found, a public recall notice is issued immediately.
