EU annual report on pesticide residues in food for 2015
Post: Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition
Date: 11 abril 2017
Section: Seguridad Alimentaria
The European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, has recently published the results of the EU-coordinated official control programme on pesticide residues in food for 2015. The results confirm the trends of recent years, in which the vast majority of food products analysed, more than 97%, comply with the Maximum Residue Levels (MRL) defined in European food legislation, and are therefore safe for consumers. In addition, more than 53% of the samples tested were free of quantifiable residues
In 2015, the EU Member States together with Norway and Iceland, once again conducted pesticide residue control programmes on food to ensure compliance with the limits established in Regulation (EU) 396/2005, and to guarantee the marketing of safe food for European consumers. Each of the residue control plans consists of a plan specifically programmed for each country and another common throughout the EU, permitting a general analysis of the situation and an assessment of trends. In Spain, the samples were taken by the Autonomous Communities and the Sub-Directorate General for Border Health Control belonging to the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, and reached the EFSA via AECOSAN.
In total, in 2015 84,341 samples of food were taken, including infant food, organic and imported products, and were analysed for the presence of 774 different pesticides. From the analysis, the EFSA confirms that the risk to consumers from the possible presence of pesticide residues in food remains low, as in previous years. Less than 3% of all the samples failed to fall within the permitted limits, organic foods (99.3% were residue-free) and samples of foods intended for infants and young children (96.5%) had the lowest presence of residues. To the contrary, food imported from outside the EU had a somewhat higher rate of non-compliance than that of products produced in European countries (5.6% compared to 1.7 %). Of particular note is the low presence of residues in processed products such as olive oil and products of animal origin.
In the report published, EFSA also assesses the dietary exposure of European consumers to these residues, both in the short-term (acute toxicity) and in the long-term (chronic toxicity). The basis if the analysis is formed by the results obtained this year, and a conservative approach is always used, that is, the worst-case scenario (so that the risk tends to be over-estimated). Lastly, the report makes recommendations for improving the control of food products in the future. In all cases, the existence of a risk for consumers is excluded and the risk of consequences for the health of the population due to the pesticide residues found in food is low.
It should be noted that, in order to correctly interpret the results, the presence of pesticide residues in food (even in those cases in which the levels exceed the MRL) does not necessarily imply a food safety problem. This is due to the special process used to establish the MLR in the EU. These limits cannot be considered as toxicological limits but are based on good agricultural practices with the lowest possible use of plant protection products.
The European Authority and the Member States continue to work on the development of an applicable assessment methodology for those cases in which residues of more than one different active substance are found. This situation was observed in 28% of the samples taken in 2015.
Results in Spain
In Spain, and under the framework of this project in which primary production data are not reflected, but only the border control and market control data, in 2015, a total of 2186 samples were analysed, the majority of which were fruit and vegetables (58.20 %) but also food of animal origin (17.2 %), cereals (2%), infant food (4.5%), and processed food (17.9%). From the results obtained, it can be seen that 98.9 % of the samples taken in Spain in that year were below the MLR established by the food legislation, taking into account the analytical uncertainty, as defined in the European guidelines.
The actions taken by the competent authorities can be consulted in the EFSA report (penalties, withdrawal from the market, notification to alert system, etc.) aimed at maintaining a high level of food safety in the country. It is important to highlight that in 2015 up to 27 different Spanish laboratories took part in the national sampling programme, all coordinated by the National Food Centre (CNA-AECOSAN) and included in the National Network of Food Safety Laboratories, RELSA, which aims to optimise the functioning of this important link in the official control chain.
For further information about this programme, please refer to the following Web:
Further information is available in the full EFSA report at the following Internet address:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/170411