The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) reported the rejection of several batches of imported fruit and vegetables with high levels of residues of chlorpyrifos, a molecule banned in the European Union.
The first notification to RASFF, classified as serious, was made by the authorities of the Netherlands on August 17, after a Dutch importing company detected that a batch of fresh oranges from Egypt had five times more residues of this substance than the maximum residue limits allowed; chlorpyrifos was found in oranges in a proportion of 0.055 mg/kg - ppm and its maximum residue limit (MRL) being 0.01 mg/kg - ppm.
As reported by the alert, the oranges had been distributed, in the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
On the same day, RASFF also reported the detection in Bulgary of Turkish peppers with chlorpyrifos levels of 0.277 +/- 0.139 mg/kg - ppm.
In this case, the peppers were destroyed by the Bulgarian border authorities after they detected their residue levels, thus preventing them from reaching consumers.
Source: hortoinfo.es
