The Consequences of Consensus: Dangerous Compromises of the Food Quality Protection Act

The central thesis of this Article is that pesticide residues in food have been and will continue to be overregulated. Parts I and II of this article set forth the history of government regulation of pesticides in food, and the new provisions of the Food Quality Protection Act (“FQPA”). Part III examines the implications of new legislative requirements and observes how they may perversely increase harm to overall public health. Part IV addresses how such counterproductive effects might be evaded within the statute, but also notes the limitations of such measures.

Finally, in Part V, I propose a wiser and more effective regulatory regime for pesticide residues on food.