According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), based on the results of over 125,000 food samples collected across Europe, compliance with EU limits for pesticide residues remains high. EFSA's latest report confirms, as in previous years, that the risk to human health posed by the presence of pesticide residues in food remains low.

The report analyzes data from three control programs: coordinated EU-level sampling, which provides a representative overview of the EU market, national controls conducted by authorities, and sampling conducted as part of intensified border controls. The results are available through EFSA's data visualization tool.

Each year, EU Member States, along with Norway and Iceland, take thousands of samples from commonly consumed food categories and report the data to EFSA to provide a representative picture of the EU market. Every three years, the same type of products are examined to monitor trends over time.

In 2024, national food safety authorities collected 9,842 samples from eggplants, bananas, broccoli, cultivated mushrooms, grapefruits, melons, peppers, table grapes, virgin olive oil, wheat, beef fat, and chicken eggs.

Of these, 98.8% of the samples were found to be compliant with EU regulations, a result in line with the 98.7% recorded in 2021, when the same product category was analyzed.
No quantifiable pesticide residues were detected in 43.1% of samples, while 54.5% contained one or more pesticide residues within the maximum residue limits (MRLs). The MRLs were exceeded in 2.4% of samples, of which 1.2% were found to be non-compliant (i.e., exceeded the limits even after accounting for measurement uncertainty). In the event of non-compliance, Member State authorities take appropriate measures to mitigate the associated risk to consumers.

Most of the samples examined in the report were collected under multiannual national control plans (MANCPs). MANCPs complement EU-wide coordinated sampling by taking into account factors such as the importance of food products in trade or national diets, historically high levels of residues or non-compliance, pesticide use patterns, and the capacity of national laboratories.
Of 86,449 samples, 98.2% were found to be compliant with EU MRLs, a figure consistent with previous years (with 98% in 2023 and 97.8% in 2022).

No quantifiable pesticide residues were detected in nearly 60% (58.4%) of these samples, and only 38.3% contained one or more residues within the MRLs. The limits were exceeded in 3.3% of the samples, of which 1.8% were found to be non-compliant. As with EU-coordinated sampling programs, in the event of non-compliance, Member State authorities take appropriate measures to mitigate the associated risk to consumers.

EFSA's scientific experts also assessed whether consumers could be exposed to residue levels above safe thresholds. The assessment confirms that the estimated exposure to pesticide residues in foods analyzed in 2024 poses a low risk to consumer health.

For the first time, EFSA's report clearly distinguishes between the results obtained from samples taken under specific EU regulations to strengthen import controls. In previous years, these samples were included in the MANCP. These controls are carried out at EU borders and focus on specific hazards (e.g., pesticides or microbiological contamination), food products, and countries that, in the opinion of Member States, require more rigorous monitoring.

In such cases, the shipment is held at the border until the laboratory results are available. The product is released onto the EU market if the laboratory results confirm that it complies with EU regulations. Of the 39,433 imported food samples analyzed as part of these checks, 38.3% contained no quantifiable residues, 56.2% contained pesticide residues within the legally permitted limits, approximately 5.5% exceeded EU limits, and of these, 3.6% were non-compliant. These non-compliant batches were prevented from entering the EU food market.