In 2021, a total of 87 863 food samples were collected in the European Union. Subjected to analysis, 96.1% of them resulted within the legal limits. As for the subset of 13 845 samples analyzed under the specific EU-coordinated control program (EUCP), 97.9% of them were found to be within the legal limits.
The EU’s EUCP program analyzes samples taken at random from 12 food products. For 2021 these were: eggplants, bananas, broccoli, cultivated mushrooms, grapefruit, melons, peppers, table grapes, virgin olive oil, wheat, beef fat and chicken eggs.
Of the samples analyzed under the coordinated program:
– 8 043, or 58.1%, were found to be free of quantifiable residues;
-5 507, or 39.8%, contained one or more residues in concentrations below or equal to the permitted limits (known as maximum residue levels or MRLs);
– 295, or 2.1%, contained residues above permitted levels.
The coordinated program uses three-year baskets of the same products to rotate so that upward or downward trends can be identified.
The overall MRL exceedance rate by pesticide residues increased from 1.4% in 2018 to 2.1% in 2021. Excluding grapefruits, the average MRL exceedance rate in 2021 is 1 .4%, the same as in 2018. In 2021, therefore, the Member States drew attention to the greater presence of pesticide residues in grapefruit imported from non-European countries and the European Commission increased border controls.
EFSA translated the findings of the coordinated program into charts and diagrams available on its website, thus making the data more accessible to the non-specialist public.
In addition to the harmonized and comparable data collected under the aforementioned EU programme, EFSA’s annual report also uses data from the national control activities of individual EU Member States[1]plus Norway and Iceland.
The results of the monitoring programs are the essential source of information for estimating the exposure of European consumers to pesticide residues through food.
As part of the analysis of the results, EFSA also produced a food risk assessment. A pilot probabilistic assessment on a subset of substances was also introduced this year.
The report concludes that the food products analyzed in 2021 are unlikely to pose a health concern for consumers. Nonetheless, the report includes a number of recommendations for increasing the efficiency of European pesticide residue control systems.
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