More than a quarter of the food consumed in Europe contains two or more pesticide residues and more than 60% of summer fruits (currants, sweet cherries, strawberries and bananas) contain a "cocktail" of pesticides that have not been evaluated as a mixture and are also dangerous to human health; this was the concern expressed by PAN Europe on Thursday 4 July.
The NGO is based on the latest report published at the end of June by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which summarises the results of official checks carried out by the Member States, Iceland and Norway in 2017, as well as the EU-coordinated control programme (EUCP).
Regulation 396/2005 requires that the cumulative and synergistic effects of pesticides be taken into account as part of the safety evaluation.
“The rate of exposure to pesticide mixtures has increased in the past years and while Regulators are - for over a decade now - promising to develop an assessment protocol for mixtures, consumers have become ‘guinea pigs’. We call upon our Regulators to immediately place an additional safety factor for mixtures”, said Angeliki Lysimachou, Science Policy Officer of PAN Europe.
With regard to the EUCP programme, 11,158 samples of a basket containing 12 food products were examined: oranges, pears, kiwi, cauliflowers, onions, carrots, potatoes, (dried) beans, rye grains, husked rice grains, poultry fat and sheep fat. The analysis covered 171 pesticides.
The report shows that 54% of the foods tested were free from detectable pesticide residues, while 27.5% contained 2 or more pesticide residues. The maximum number of residues found in one single sample (of peppers) was 30.
62% of conventional agricultural fruits and nuts contained pesticides. 70% of currants and blackberries and more than 60% of cherries, strawberries, lettuce, rockets and bananas contained two or more pesticide residues.
To consult the EFSA report: https://bit.ly/2RXmClw (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)