"There is no scientific evidence yet that says food laced with neonicotinoids will harm humans, but why is the EPA allowing systemic pesticides on food plants in the first place?"

The folks that panic at the thought of systemic insecticides are plainly not well informed. Natural insecticides occur in many food plants, including most culinary herbs and spices. Think of thymol. That is found in ordinary garden variety thyme, and is a strong natural systemic poison which protects the plant against its enemies which try to eat it. 

Systemic insecticides mimic nature by making the plants poisonous to some but generally not all organisms. Some plants are highly toxic to all organisms, but this is often not the case. Other plants are toxic unless cooked. Oxalic acid occurs in many plants including rhubarb and spinach. 

Many of these natural chemicals are present in honey as well. Honey contains many organic acids such as acetic, formic, oxalic, etc. Honey also contains phenolic acids, which if concentrated would be highly toxic to human beings. Hydrogen peroxide has been found to be the major contributor to the antimicrobial activity of honey.

* * *

There are many potentially harmful or toxic chemicals present in the food we eat, whether occurring naturally, as contaminants, or as deliberate additives. But these chemicals are not necessarily harmful in small amounts; the effects they have depend upon the amounts that we consume.

Chemicals become present in our food in a number of ways:

	• Contaminants are widespread in our environment, and may enter the food chain and be present in all plant and animal products that we eat (e.g. dioxins)
	• Chemical components of materials which come into contact with food, such as packaging materials, may be absorbed into our foods
	• Chemicals may form during food processing or cooking (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
	• Chemicals used in farming, such as pesticides and veterinary medicines may remain in the products we eat
	• Additives are deliberately added to food in order to provide some useful purpose, such as flavours and preservatives, which allow the consumer to select a varied diet from preserved foods all the year round
	• Some natural components of plants may themselves cause toxicity (eg glycoalkaloids in potatoes), while some may be harmful if not cooked properly (eg lectins in pulses). There are also some foodstuff which can cause allergies in susceptible individuals (e.g peanuts).
	• Chemicals may be produced by moulds which contaminate crops during storage, such as aflatoxins.

see: http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/chemsafe/

Pete

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