The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published an annual report and looks at pesticide residues in food.
The EFSA has carried out a nutritional risk assessment as part of the analysis of the results. This shows the chance that consumers are exposed to a quantity of residues above a certain safety threshold. The agency concluded that there is a low risk for the health of consumers of estimated exposure to pesticides in the tested food.
The part of the Multiannual National Control Program (MAMP) collects data from targeted sampling, based on the risk level. These national programs delivered 132,793 samples and 98 percent were met the EU legislation. The compliance percentages for 2021 and 2022 were 97.5 percent and 97.8 percent respectively.
In 2023, 58 percent of the samples did not contain any quantifiable residues, while 38.3 percent residues had within legal limits. The maximum residue level (MRL) was surpassed in nearly 5,000 samples, of which 2,694 were non-compliance, after taking into account measurement uncertainty, and led to legal sanctions or enforcement actions. On average, 249 different pesticide residues were analyzed per sample.
The non-compliance percentage in samples from other countries was three times higher than the rate of reporting countries. The most important countries from which non-compliant products were found were Turkey, India and Egypt. Most of these shipments were stopped at the border.
According to To the reportUp to 37 pesticides were reported in a monster of chili peppers from Cambodia. This item was deemed non-compliant and the product pot was destroyed.
Ethylene oxide, a pesticide that was not approved in Europe, was analyzed in 3,651 samples. In 40 samples the MRL was exceeded and 24 samples led to non-compliant results. Of these, 13 samples were created in India and four in Turkey. A decrease in reports was observed compared to 2022.
In 48 samples of food for infants and young children, the MRL was exceeded, nine of which were not in accordance with measurement uncertainty. Fabrics found the most to exceed the MRL were copper connections and chlorates. Chlorate findings are likely to occur after remediation practices in the food chain and are not due to the use of pesticides.
The number of honey samples with pesticides above the MRLs was 30, of which 21 were non-compliance with the measurement uncertainty. A total of 23 different pesticides were reported. The most frequent quantified Wars Acetamiprid, Amitraz and Boscalid.
Follow trends
EFSA also analyzed the results of 13,246 random samples taken by the Member States, Norway and Iceland from 12 of the most consumed products in Europe as part of the EU coordinated control program. This program destined with the same raw materials every three years to follow trends. Before 2023 these were carrots, cauliflower, kiwi fruit, onions, oranges, pears, potatoes, dried beans, brown rice, rye, beef liver and poultry fat. A total of 197 pesticides were covered.
In general, 70 percent were free of quantifiable levels of residues, while 28 percent contained one or more residues within legal limits. MRLs were exceeded in 246 samples, of which 135 were non-compliant after taking into account measurement uncertainty.
In dried beans, the pesticides that contribute the most to an MRL cross -overrun fosetyl, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. Only glyphosate had an authorized use in this food. For brown rice, pesticides that mainly contribute to an MRL overrun tricyclazole, propiconazole, imidacloprid and chlorm equat chloride. None of these substances are allowed in rice in the EU. EFSA recommended including dried beans and brown rice in control programs.
Of the 31 non-compliance in dried beans, samples from Argentina and Madagascar had the highest percentage. The highest percentage of Indian and Pakistani monsters came from 45 results that lead to non-compliance in rice. Of the 135 non-conforming samples, 42.2 percent of the EU onton was, while 54.8 percent were outside the European market and this was unknown for 3 percent.
The highest number of several residues was found in two samples of pears, one of which was grown in the EU, where 14 different pesticides were quantified, all under the MRL values. The other was grown in another country where 14 different pesticides were quantified, one of which led to a non-compliance result and the party was not released on the market.
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