Pesticide residues in food types in Europe in 2021, by number of quantified residues

Published by Statista Research Department, Jul 11, 2023

In a 2021 study on pesticide residue in European food, table grapes were found to be the food type that exhibited the highest percentage of samples with six or more quantifications, with 9.24 percent. This indicates a higher risk of pesticide contamination within this food type. Other commodities that also had a high percentage of samples with six or more quantifications were grapefruits and sweet/bell peppers with 7.37 percent and 3.87 percent respectively. On the other hand, chicken eggs and cultivated fungi had no samples with six or more quantifications, which could imply a lower risk of pesticide contamination within these food types.

One of the indicators of pesticide contamination in food is the number of quantifications, which measure the amount of pesticide residues detected in a sample. A high number of quantifications means that the sample has multiple pesticides at levels above the limit of detection.

Share of selected food types containing residues of pesticides in Europe in 2021, by number of quantified residues

Characteristic		1	2	3	4	5	6	6+
Table grapes	18.23%	13.9%	15.29%	16.68%	13.41%	8.01%	5.23%	9.24%
Grapefruits	18.37%	14.24%	17.58%	13.95%	13.95%	9.53%	5.01%	7.37%
Sweet/bell peppers	46.99%	18.79%	13.2%	7.75%	5.52%	2.3%	1.58%	3.87%
Melons	47.58%	21.59%	12.46%	9.02%	4.94%	1.5%	0.75%	2.15%
Bananas	31.18%	13.22%	18.86%	17.65%	12.65%	4.43%	1.37%	0.64%
Broccoli	60.1%	18.24%	10.26%	5.91%	3.32%	1.45%	0.31%	0.41%
Aubergines	50.5%	27.29%	12.55%	5.08%	2.19%	1.39%	0.6%	0.4%
Wheat	68.92%	19.76%	6.99%	2.97%	0.96%	0.24%	0.08%	0.08%
Chicken eggs	97.53%	1.4%	1.07%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Bovine fat	95.27%	3.77%	0.92%	0.05%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Virgin olive oil	83.58%	9.82%	4.69%	1.32%	0.59%	0%	0%	0%
Cultivated fungi	59.88%	28.27%	8.84%	2.18%	0.73%	0.1%	0%	0%