Pesticide residues in EU food: we have the latest data

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Within the framework of the EU MACP, randomly collected samples from 12 foods were tested in the laboratory. In 2021, these were eggplant, bananas, broccoli, cultivated mushrooms, grapefruit, melons, peppers, table grapes, virgin olive oil, wheat, beef fat, and chicken eggs.

Among the samples analyzed in the coordinated program:
• 58.1% (8,043 samples) can be considered free of chemical residues;
• 39.8% (5507) contained one or more chemical residues in a concentration below or equal to the permissible level (this is the so-called maximum permissible pesticide residue level, or MRL);
• 2.1% (295) contained substance residues exceeding the permitted level.
The experts sample the same range of products every three years, thus the decreasing or possibly increasing trend can also be well examined.

The general proportion of pesticide residues exceeding the MRL increased from 1.4% in 2018 to 2.1% in 2021

Excluding grapefruit, the average MRL exceedance rate in 2021 was 1.4%, the same as in 2018. In 2021, the member states drew attention to the fact that grapefruits imported from outside the EU have a higher presence of pesticide residues, which is why the European Commission increased border controls in this regard in the same year.

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