Pesticides in fruit: More and more varieties are contaminated with toxins

Created: 06/27/2022, 08:00

By: Laura Knops

Many types of fruit and vegetables contain significantly more pesticides than they did a few years ago.

This includes apples, as well as pears or peaches.

Munich – Pesticides and toxins have no place in food.

But it is not uncommon for fruit and vegetables to be contaminated with dangerous amounts of pesticides.

For this reason, states in the European Union (EU) have been obliged since 2011 to reduce the use of pesticides classified as particularly dangerous.

However, many types of fruit in Europe contain significantly more toxins than nine years ago.

So the backlog has by no means decreased, but rather increased significantly.

This is the result of a recent report by the environmental organization Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN).

Pesticides in fruit: More and more varieties are contaminated with toxins

The amount of toxins in fruit and vegetables has been steadily increasing for several years (symbol image).

© Westend61 / Imago

Between 2011 and 2019, the experts were able to demonstrate a dramatic increase in toxins in fruit and vegetables, which the European Commission classifies as "particularly dangerous".

The food contains around 53 percent more pesticides than a few years ago.

Almost a third of the samples also showed such high levels of residues that are considered to be extremely toxic to humans, animals and the environment.

For the analysis, the organization evaluated almost 100,000 fruit samples.

The researchers focused primarily on examining the most dangerous and most heavily regulated pesticides.

These have been associated with a number of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disorders and diabetes for several years.

But the toxins not only harm people, they are also highly toxic for the ecosystem.

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Pesticides in fruit: These varieties are most affected

According to the authors, the most dangerous pesticides in particular have shown an upward trend in recent years.

The results are therefore evidence that governments are failing to meet their legal obligations.

The following fruits are particularly affected:

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• Kiwis: While only a few kiwis were contaminated with pesticides in 2011 (four percent), the figure rose to around 32 percent in 2019.

• Cherries: Similar to the kiwis, the contamination of cherries increased from only 22 percent to almost 50 percent of the samples.

• Apples: The experts were able to detect toxins in around a third of the apples.

• Pears: Almost half of the pears examined contained pesticides.

• Peaches: In 2019, almost half of the 9,000 peach samples were also contaminated with toxins.

• Blackberries: Remains of the substances could be found in 51 percent of the 606 samples.

• Strawberries: The organization found worrying amounts of the pesticides in 38 percent of the samples.

As part of their study, the scientists also analyzed different types of vegetables.

They found out that celery (54 percent), celeriac (45 percent) and kale (31 percent) in particular often contain toxins.

Since most vegetables are less susceptible to diseases and insects, the pesticide load on vegetables is therefore lower.

Pesticides in fruit: In Europe more and more varieties are contaminated

But it is not only in Germany that fruit and vegetables seem to contain more and more pesticides.

The use of toxins in the cultivation of fruit and vegetables is also criticized in other European countries.

Most residues were found in Belgium (43 percent), Ireland (20 percent), France (22 percent), Italy (21 percent) and Germany (20 percent).

However, many of the samples did not only contain one questionable pesticide.

Several of the dangerous active ingredients have been detected in some types of fruit and vegetables.

The results are therefore clear evidence that European Union (EU) governments are failing to meet their legal obligations, according to the report.

As part of the European "Farm-to-Fork" strategy to reduce pesticides, toxic pesticides, which are among the so-called "substitution candidates", should be replaced by less harmful alternatives - instead of using more and more of them.

In order to protect themselves from the unhealthy pesticides, the experts therefore urge consumers to buy organic products in particular.

In addition, each fruit should be thoroughly cleaned with water before consumption.

This article only contains general information on the respective health topic and is therefore not intended for self-diagnosis, treatment or medication.

In no way does it replace a visit to the doctor.

Unfortunately, our editors are not allowed to answer individual questions about clinical pictures.