Exposure to pesticides by food is unlikely to pose a health risk to European consumers.

These are the conclusions reached by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in its annual report on pesticide residues in food.

According to EFSA data, in 2020, 94.9 % of more than 88 thousand samples examined had pesticide residues within the limits.

For the subgroup of 12,000 samples analysed under the EU-coordinated multiannual programme (based on random checks on a basket of twelve products), 1.7 % exceeded the limits.

EFSA also estimated exposure to pesticide residues in the diet and concluded that ‘the food analysed in 2020 is unlikely to pose a health problem for consumers’.

Italy is among the countries that have carried out most of the analyses of products of national origin, and among those that have contributed the most to the EU-coordinated control programme.

Fonte: EFSA, Ansa