Pesticide residues have been detected in more than a third of cereal-based products in Europe, according to a study by the consumer protection NGO Foodwatch published on Tuesday.
Cereals are ubiquitous and are used in a huge array of everyday products such as bread, pasta and flour. The organisation believes that supermarkets can and should eliminate pesticides from their production.
According to the Foodwatch study, the production of cereals (wheat, maize, oats, etc.) contributes significantly to the widespread use – and therefore contamination of the environment and ingestion – of pesticides in the European Union.
However, distributors often overlook this issue when compared with pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables. "The time has come to tackle this issue and supermarkets are failing to do so", Foodwatch laments. It highlights the fact that cereal production covers 50% of cultivated land in Europe, the equivalent of more than 81 million football pitches. On average, these are treated with pesticides 4 to 6 times a year.
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According to Foodwatch's findings, out of 2,234 samples of cereals and cereal-based products from conventional (non-organic) farming, 37% contained one or more pesticides. Of these, 18 residues in 14 samples exceeded the maximum limits in this area.
The prevalence of pesticide residues also varied considerably, adds the NGO, rising from less than 10% in samples of spelt and rye grain to almost 90% in wheat bread and rolls.
Foodwatch has called on the major supermarket chains in France, Germany and the Netherlands to commit to selling only products made from cereals produced without pesticides.
Jörg Rohwedder, Executive Director of Foodwatch International, warns that "If supermarkets do not use their market power now to produce pesticide-free, we are endangering the entire food production in the EU in the long term – and thus our food security."
