The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has published a report that investigates the occurrence of 21 active substances frequently detected on organic products that are approved for use in plant protection products, but are not allowed in organic food production.
The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG’s) 2025 Dirty Dozen list considers pesticide toxicity for the first time. While critics say the list is alarmist and may discourage the consumption of safe fruit and vegetables, EWG argues that “legal does not mean safe” when it comes to pesticide residues.
EFSA analyzed thousands of samples collected in 2023 from commonly consumed products. Maximum residue levels (MRLs) were exceeded in 2 percent of samples, of which 1 percent were non-compliant after taking into account the measurement uncertainty.
In the study, a high-throughput analysis system with an analysis time of 13 minutes was developed to detect pesticide residues in corn. Corn samples from different origins were found to contain distinct exogenous pesticide profiles.
In a new opinion, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is proposing to modify the existing maximum residue limits (MRLs) for agricultural chemical chlormequat in oats, as well as in the products of food-producing animals.
The latest data published by the Swedish Food Agency shows that very few foods on the Swedish market violate EU pesticide residue limits, and more than half of foods tested contained no detectable levels of pesticides at all.
The Alliance for Food and Farming has created an online tool that enables users to view the amount of produce a person would have to consume to experience health effects from pesticide residues.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has compiled a report on the exposure of humans and food-producing animals to endocrine-disrupting chemicals—such as PFAS, BPA, and phthalates, among others—between 2004 and 2024.
An analysis of globally sourced table grapes conducted by the Chemical and Veterinary Analytical Institute of Stuttgart, Germany (CVUA Stuttgart) found notable levels of pesticides, which were significantly higher in grapes imported from outside the EU. Grapes from Türkiye were especially problematic.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released its Pesticide Data Program Annual Summary for 2023, which showed more than 99 percent of sampled products to be compliant with pesticide residue tolerances set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
