The report published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), published that the non-compliance rate of pesticides in food decreased in 2019. In 2019, 96.1 % of the 96,302 samples analyzed were below the maximum residue limit (MRL). The other 3.9 %, or a total of 3,720 samples, exceeded this level, of which 2,252 were non-compliant based on measurement uncertainty.
The number of samples tested in 2019 grew compared to 91,015 in 2018. Reporting countries searched for 799 different pesticides in 2019. 233 different ones were analyzed per sample.
Of all samples, 44.1 percent contained one or more pesticides in quantifiable concentrations, down from 47.8 percent in 2018. Multiple residues were reported in 25,584 samples. In one sample of dried vine fruit of unknown origin, up to 28 different pesticides were found. In 313 tests, more than 10 pesticides were detected in the same sample.
