I just used this tool (searched for'apple') and it seems a little bit vague. It does not differentiate between brands, countries of origin, nor organic. Another search for lettuce showed nothing. :-) How could lettuce not be in here? There are no listings for pantry items.

Still, it's a beginning. A tiny step in the right direction.

Lynda
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Thomas Stevenson
Mar 25, 2025 2 minute read

The Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, along with the Food and Drug Administration, has unveiled a new food "transparency" tool that allows Americans to look up the chemicals and other contaminants in foods using a large database.

On Thursday, Kennedy said in a press release from the FDA, “HHS is committed to radical transparency to give Americans authentic, informed consent about what they are eating. This new Chemical Contaminants Transparency Tool is a critical step for industry to Make America Healthy Again."

The FDA stated that the tool is "an online searchable database providing a consolidated list of contaminant levels (e.g., tolerances, action levels, and guidance levels) that are used to evaluate potential health risks of contaminants in human foods," adding, "Chemical contaminants include a broad range of chemical substances that may be present in food and that have the potential to cause harm."

Some of the different contaminants that are talked about in the database include Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, otherwise known as DDT, which is a synthetic pesticide. Other pesticides, such as Chlordane, are also addressed.

FDA Commissioner Sara Brenner said, “Ideally there would be no contaminants in our food supply, but chemical contaminants may occur in food when they are present in the growing, storage or processing environments."

"Because many of the most nutritious foods can also contain contaminants, consumers should eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods across and within the main food groups of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein to help protect from possible exposure effects," she added.

To use to the tool, which can be found here,
https://www.hfpappexternal.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/index.cfm?set=contaminant-levels

One only needs to search for a food such as "bananas," and contaminants will pop up. For the common fruit, the contaminants of Aldrin and Dieldrin as well as Chlordane appear.