Strawberries are more likely to contain pesticides than any other type of food, according to a study.
Tests on samples grown in Britain showed that all contained traces of at least one pesticide, compared with a European Union average of 78 per cent, the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) said. Its report found that 2.2 per cent of the British strawberry samples were above the legal limit.
The Europe-wide study found 84 different pesticides in samples of strawberries — with some individual fruit containing up to 15 types. Fungicides boscalid and cyprodinil and fludioxonil were the most common, and were each found in at least a third of samples. Thiacloprid, an insecticide said to be linked to a decline in bees, was found in 11 per cent of samples.
Peaches were the next worst offender, with the study finding multiple pesticides in 53 per cent of samples taken from across the EU.
Efsa said 97.4 per cent of the 81,000 samples of all types of food evaluated fell within legal limits. Some, but not all, pesticides could be removed by washing fruit, it said.
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Georgina Downs, of the UK Pesticides Campaign, said: “European citizens would be horrified to know the cocktails of chemicals that are being used to produce food.”
“Many of these pesticides have carcinogenic, neurotoxic and hormone disrupting capabilities and therefore consumers have every right to be concerned by these findings. Pesticides have been shown to have effects at very low doses and some of the results of this EU report found multiple pesticides in any one food sample,” she added.
Efsa said some pesticides could be removed by washing fruit and vegetables but others were taken up by the roots of the plant and “transported to the edible part of the crop. For these pesticides washing would not significantly reduce the residues.”