Pesticides are used to control weeds, protect crops against, for example, insect and fungal attacks, or to regulate plant growth. This means that residues of pesticides and their breakdown products can occur in our food. The EU has rules for the maximum permitted levels of pesticide residues in food.
In 2024, 2,095 samples covering 205 different types of food were analysed. Random collected samples are taken to represent the Danish market, while targeted samples are collected where there is suspicion of more frequent exceedances.
Fewer pesticide residues in Danish fruit and vegetables
In 98% of all random collected samples, pesticide residues were within the established maximum residue levels for food. Residues were found in 86% of the samples of conventionally grown fruit, 49% of the conventionally grown vegetables, and 32% of the conventionally grown cereals.
Overall, Danish-grown fruit and vegetables contain fewer pesticide residues than imported produce, and residues are more often found in fruit than in vegetables.
Among conventionally grown fruit produced in Denmark, residues were found in 63% of samples. The figure is 88% for fruit from the rest of the EU and 90% for fruit from outside the EU.
An increasing trend is seen in the number of samples of apples with pesticide residues, and a few exceedances of the maximum residue limits have also been found.
“Again, prosulfocarb has been found in Danish apples. The content is likely not due to illegal use of the pesticide, but rather wind drift from neighbouring fields where winter crops are grown and sprayed in autumn with the herbicide prosulfocarb,” says Senior Adviser Bodil Hamborg Jensen from the DTU National Food Institute.
In vegetables grown in Denmark, residues were found in 21% of the samples. The figure is 70% for vegetables from the rest of the EU and 54% for vegetables from outside the EU.
More than one pesticide residues have also more often been found in the same sample when it comes to foreign foods compared to Danish produce. More than one pesticide was found in 51% of foreign samples, compared to only 13% of the Danish samples.
Residues were found in 4.1% (8 samples) of organic food. Four of these contained spinosad, which is approved for use in organic production.
Samples may pose a health risk
Eighteen samples were assessed as “a potential health risk could not be excluded”. Nine were random samples, and the remaining nine were targeted samples.
Pesticide residues generally pose an insignificant health risk
Researchers closely monitor whether the combined amount of pesticide residues could pose a health risk to consumers. The DTU National Food Institute assesses that the residues found in food on the Danish market generally pose an insignificant health risk.
Consumers wishing to minimise their pesticide intake can choose organic products or Danish-grown crops, which generally contain fewer residues than foreign equivalents.
