
FROM CROP TO TABLE PESTICIDE REPORT FOOD SAFETY & SUSTAINABILITY CENTER About the Food Center chemistry from Boston Univer- overall public service activities, CR Scientists sity and completed postdoctoral and pursues strategic initiatives Pesticide Report research at the Free University to build support for its mission. Dr. Urvashi Rangan leads Con- sumer Reports’ Consumer of Brussels and University of She has been with Consumer Safety and Sustainability Group Pennsylvania. Reports for more than a decade, About Consumer Reports’ Food Work and serves as the Executive serving first in its Communica- Dr. Michael K. Hansen is a Senior tions Department, promoting Director of its Food Safety Scientist with Consumers Union, and Its Food Safety and Sustainability Center and Sustainability Center. Dr. food and product safety issues, the policy and advocacy arm of then working as the Senior Rangan directs all of the organi- Consumer Reports. He works zation’s food-safety testing and Adviser to the President—writ- Consumer Reports has been concerned about the quality and safety of primarily on food safety issues, ing speeches, op-eds, and brief- research in addition to the scien- including pesticides, and has the food supply since its earliest years. It did pioneering research on the presence tific risk assessments related to ing materials—and advising on been largely responsible for key organizational issues. of nuclear fallout in the American diet (Strontium-90) in the 1950s and 1960s, food and product safety, which developing the organization’s which helped build support for the Test Ban Treaty of 1963. The magazine’s 1974 she translates into actionable positions on the safety, test- recommendations for lawmak- landmark series on water pollution played a role in the Safe Drinking Water Act. ing and labeling of genetically CR Advisers ers and consumers. She is an engineered food and mad cow The organization has been testing meat and poultry for pathogens and antibiotic environmental health scientist Dr. Charles Benbrook consulted disease. Dr. Hansen served on to Consumer Reports on this resistance for more than 15 years and has used its research to successfully fight and toxicologist and is a leading the Department of Agriculture’s expert, watchdog, and spokes- pesticide report, including for reforms such as the 2010 campylobacter standard for chicken and turkey, Advisory Committee on Agri- providing expert analysis of his person on food labeling and cultural Biotechnology from the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, and improvements to the salmonella food safety. Dr. Rangan received Dietary Risk Index (DRI). Over 1998 to 2002 and on the Cali- a long career, Dr. Benbrook has standards. her Ph.D. from the Johns Hop- fornia Department of Food and kins School of Public Health. developed a variety of analytical Agriculture Food Biotechnology systems quantifying food qual- Advisory Committee from 2001 In 2012, Consumer Reports launched its Food Safety and Sustainability Center Charlotte Vallaeys is a senior ity and safety, and the impacts to fight for sweeping, systemic change and address the root causes of problems policy analyst and writer for the to 2002. of agricultural technology and Consumer Reports’ Food Safety policy. Before moving west, Dr. plaguing the food system. The Center’s work focuses on issues including food- Dr. Keith Newsom-Stewart is a and Sustainability Center. She Benbrook worked in Washing- borne illness and antibiotic resistance; pesticide use; heavy metals (mercury, Statistical Program Leader at focuses on sustainability and Consumer Reports. During his ton, D.C., for 18 years, including lead, arsenic); truth and transparency in labeling; and promoting more sustain- justice in the food system and tenure, he has worked on a wide in the Executive Office of the able agricultural practices that advance the marketplace, such as animal welfare, works on a variety of food policy range of projects, including President and on Capitol Hill. organic farming, and fair trade. At the core of the Center’s work is the principle and food safety issues, including those related to meat, seafood, He collaborated with Consumer food labeling and organic policy. Reports on the organization’s that there is a clear intersection between how food is produced and the impact on and poultry safety and food She regularly attends National additives. He specializes in 1998 Worst First pesticides public health. Organic Standards Board linear and nonlinear mixed report. He currently serves as meetings as a watchdog for the models, experimental design, head of Benbrook Consulting organic label and has done work and analysis of complex sur- Services. for the National Organic Coali- veys. Prior to coming to CR, he tion. She previously worked as Chantelle Norton is an artist and worked for the Cornell Biomet- designer and is a lead designer Policy Director at The Cornu- rics Unit and College of Veteri- copia Institute. She received her of Consumer Reports’ Food nary Medicine. His educational Safety and Sustainability Center master’s degree in theological background is in statistics, studies from Harvard Univer- reports. She has worked in many general biology, and genetics. fields of design, from fashion sity, where she studied social He is an adjunct math profes- and environmental ethics, and a to print to costume to graphic sor at Western Connecticut design. She lives in the Lower master’s of science in nutrition State University and a member from the Friedman School of Hudson Valley with a medley of the American Statistical of animals, including her pet Nutrition Science and Policy at Association. Tufts University. chickens. Her latest paintings take the chicken as muse and Dr. Doris Sullivan is the Associate CR Communications feature portraits of her feath- Director for Product Safety in ered friends in landscapes Consumer Reports’ Consumer Jennifer Shecter is the Director inspired by the Hudson Valley Safety and Sustainability Group. of External Relations at Con- and Ireland. She oversees product safety test- sumer Reports and the Senior Adviser to the Food Safety ing, research, and prioritization. We acknowledge the contri- She is also an expert in compil- and Sustainability Center. In this capacity, she manages bution from current adviser, ing and analyzing large data- Aimee Simpson, JD. sets. She received her Ph.D. in the center’s partnerships and relationships, coordinates its Contents Introduction: Produce Matters ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5 The Intersection of Safety and Sustainability: Why Pesticides Are a Bad Deal ������������������������������������6 Pesticides Used Before and After Cultivation ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 7 Human Health Concerns ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Weighing Human Health in Pesticide Approvals ������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Pesticide Terminology ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������11 Risks to Young Children ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������12 Organophosphate Pesticides ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������13 Food Quality Protection Act ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 14 Risks to Farmers and Farmworkers ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������16 Environmental and Ecological Concerns �������������������������������������������������������������������������������22 Honeybees and Pollination �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������22 The Impacts of Pesticide Use ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24 Why Organic is the Right Way ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25 Genetically Engineered Crops and Increased Pestide Use ���������������������������������������������������������26 Reducing Exposure to Pesticides: What Consumers Can Do ��������������������������������������������������������27 A Consumer Reports Guide to Residue Risk ���������������������������������������������������������������������������28 Calculation of the Dietary Risk Index DRI ���������������������������������������������������������������������������29 Comparing Consumer Reports Guide with the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������31 Calculation of Cancer Risk in CR Guide �����������������������������������������������������������������������������31 Fruit Risks Chart ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������34 Vegetables Risks Chart �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������35 High Risk Pesticides ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������37 Labels Guide Chart ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������38 Stretching Your Produce and Organic Dollar ��������������������������������������������������������������������������43 Cleaning
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