Levels of pesticide residues in food are ‘safe’, finds EFSA

Dietary exposure to pesticide residues is “unlikely” to present a risk to the health of Europeans, according to new data published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) this week.

However, campaigners have questioned the conclusions EFSA has drawn from its annual report given the absence of assessments relating to combinations of chemicals.

EFSA’s report details the findings from tests for individual chemicals on 82,649 samples across 28 member states, as well as Iceland and Norway. Of these, 97% complied with current legislation: 43.4% contained residues within permitted concentrations and 53.6% were completely free of quantifiable residues.