Fruits and vegetables: 85 shipments found with excessive amounts of pesticides
A total of 85 shipments with high levels of pesticides were detected in fruits and vegetables that reached the markets of the European Union, either from third countries or from within the EU itself, in May 2026.
According to the data received by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), the country that sounded the alarm most frequently between 1 and 31 May 2026 was Turkey.
Turkey is followed by Egypt with 8 cases, while fruits and vegetables from Colombia triggered 7 alerts for excessive pesticide use
Specifically, the alerts for Turkish agricultural products, which were heading to European markets and were found to contain excessive amounts of pesticides in the fruits and vegetables, amount to 18.
It should be noted that Turkish agricultural products have repeatedly been at the center of controls in the European Union due to the detection of banned pesticides or the exceeding of maximum permitted limits.
Exceedances of pesticide residues in food are one of the key issues monitored by the control authorities throughout the European Union, as they are directly linked to the safety of the food chain and the protection of public health.
Which countries rank high on the list
As regards the number of alerts, Turkey is followed by Egypt with 8 cases, while fruits and vegetables from Colombia triggered 7 alerts for excessive pesticide use.
Spanish fruits and vegetables triggered 5 alerts due to excessive pesticide levels; fruits and vegetables from Kenya and Uzbekistan triggered 4 alerts, while on the RASFF list for May of this year, fruits and vegetables from Italy, China, India and France triggered 3 alerts for excessive levels of pesticide residues.
Likewise, Mexico, Vietnam, South Africa, Peru, Iran and Thailand each appeared with two alerts.
The remaining cases correspond to vegetables and fruits that arrived from various countries with one case each, including Morocco and the Netherlands, whose fruits and vegetables raised the alarm due to the excessive presence of pesticide residues.
