Pesticides in food: latest figures remain steady

On 25 July 2018, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its annual report on pesticide residues in food. The report analysed the results of 84,657 food samples from the EU member states, Iceland and Norway and concluded that 96.2% of the samples fell within legal limits.

The main findings of the report were that: 

• the reporting countries analysed 84,657 samples for 791 pesticides
• 96.2% (81,482) of the samples were within limits permitted in EU legislation and 50.7% of the tested samples were free of quantifiable residues. In the previous reporting year (2015), 97.2% of samples were within the legal limits and 53.3% were free of quantifiable residues. The difference is mainly attributed to the finding of chlorate residues, a compound that was included for the first time in the 2016 control programmes to support on-going work to establish maximum residue levels (MRLs)
• the majority of the tested samples (67%) originated from EU member states, Iceland and Norway, while 26.4% concerned products imported from third countries. For 6.6% of the samples, the origin of the products was unknown
• legal limits were exceeded in 2.4% of samples for products from EU and EEA countries, legal limits were exceeded in 7.2% of the samples from non-EU countries
• of the 1,676 samples of food intended for infants and young children, 98.1% were within the limits permitted in EU legislation. 89.8% of the samples were free of quantifiable residues
• 5,495 samples of organic food were taken in 2016, of which 98.7% were within legal limits. 83.1% of the samples were free of quantifiable residues

Source: EFSA, 25 July 2018