Organochlorine pesticides are conventionally used in commercial wolfberry cultivation to mitigate destruction of the delicate berries by insects. Since the early 21st century, high levels of pyrethroid insecticide residues (including fenvalerate, and cypermethrin) and fungicide residues (such as triadimenol), have been detected by the United States Food and Drug Administration on imported wolfberries and wolfberry products of Chinese origin, leading to the seizure of these products.[22] Due to the demand for organic products in the West, some Chinese growers are beginning to experiment with integrated pest management and to explore the possibility of obtaining organic certification, something that does not yet exist in China.

Some Western resellers may state that their wolfberries are organically grown when in fact they are not. These wolfberries are now often marketed as Goji berries. The Green Certificate claimed by some wolfberry marketers to be the equivalent of the United States Department of Agriculture's "USDA Organic" seal[23] is in actuality simply an agricultural training program for China's rural poor.[24] China's Green Food Standard,[25] administered by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture's China Green Food Development Center, does permit pesticide and herbicide use.[26][27][28].

Despite some claims that wolfberries sold in Europe, the United States and Canada meet organic standards[citation needed], there is no public evidence for standardized organic certification of wolfberries from the regions where they are grown. Often, these wolfberries are marketed as Tibetan or Himalayan Goji Berries and that is false information. No organic certification of such berries has been proved for wolfberries.

The areas where Tibetan Goji berries grow are so remote that no pesticide use has ever been used or needed. The Tibetan Lycium Chinensis 'Goji' berries are tested in USDA certified labs for purity before distribution is allowed.