How Europe Monitors Pesticide Residues In Food

Crops that have been treated with pesticides may contain residues. To ensure that pesticides are used correctly and their residues do not pose a risk to consumers, legal limits are set in EU legislation.

125,000 samples collected in 2024

How do we know that levels of residues found in food are safe?

Food inspection services in the EU, Iceland and Norway have monitoring programmes in place to check that food complies with legal limits.

• 98.8% of samples from the EU‑coordinated sampling subset, which aims to represent the EU market, were free of residues or contained residues that were within legal limits.

Analysis

Official laboratories test the food samples for the presence of more than 942 pesticides.

Data

Around 19 million individual test results for pesticide residues are reported to EFSA per year and summarised in an annual report.

EU decision‑makers

EU decision‑makers use EFSA’s conclusions and recommendations to strengthen future monitoring programmes.

EFSA is the keystone of EU risk assessment regarding food and feed safety.
In close collaboration with national authorities, and in open consultation with its stakeholders, EFSA provides independent scientific advice and clear communication on existing and emerging risks.