Abstract: Food pesticide residue data are used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine potential dietary risk from acute exposures. An acute dietary risk assessment determines the pesticide exposure resulting from a single-day consumption of food. Toxicity and food residue data used by EPA in assessing acute dietary risk are obtained from studies submitted by chemical companies in support of pesticide registration. The primary source of food consumption data used by EPA in dietary risk assessments is the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII1994-96, 98) conducted by USDA. The current method of the EPA is to use a tiered approach for dietary risk assessment that proceeds from very conservative assumptions about food residues, to inclusion of more realistic residue values measured closer to the point of consumption, including food residue measurements in a specially designed market-basket study, government-sponsored monitoring data, probabilistic methodologies, market share information, and food processing data. China could refer to the EPA method of acute dietary risk assessment, before the pesticides are to be registered for use. This would involve the establishment of comprehensive food consumption database and market residue monitoring database.