The recent rise in food allergies may have a cause, according to new research from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology: pesticides common in tap water.

In light of the recent Stanford study that called into question the value of higher-priced organic foods, Whole Foods Market, the leading retail chain with a focus on organic foods, defended the industry in a recent interview with Yahoo's The Daily Ticker.

Scotts Miracle Gro, the world’s largest producer of residential pesticides, must pay the largest fine of its kind in U.S. history totaling $12.5million for violation of Federal pesticide laws including the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. The company was also charged with adding illegal toxins to wild bird food.

Swiss biotech corporation, Syngenta, has launched a campaign promoting the safety of atrazine, the controversial chemical herbicide targeted in the recent documentary "Last Call at the Oasis."

The Environmental Protection Agency now says there is "mounting evidence" that Monsanto's genetically modified corn is losing its ability to resist insect infestations such as the Western rootworm, despite increased applications of pesticides.

Last week, the EPA announced new regulations on use of the fungicide, chlorpyrifos, a known toxin commonly used on potato crops. The new ruling will lower the allowable applications and the restrictions will be on product labels later this year, the agency reports in a statement released on the EPA website.

Expanding their annual list, the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit research organization, has released its eighth annual "Dirty Dozen Plus" and the companion list, the "Clean 15," ranking fruits and vegetables based on levels of pesticide contamination.