Pesticides banned in the European Union found in products imported and purchased in France

According to the investigative program “Vert de rage”, coffee, tea, spices, legumes, plums and passion fruit are particularly affected.

With the door closed, they go through the window. Pesticides banned in France and the European Union (EU) have been found in our baskets and plates via imported products. This is what the investigative program “Vert de rage” shows, Monday September 23.

The “Vert de rage” team analyzed 22 samples of fruits and vegetables purchased in large French supermarket chains. Seven contained pesticide residues banned in Europe. A grapefruit from China contained two problematic products: chlorpyrifos (known to be neurotoxic, reprotoxic [c’est-à-dire toxique pour la reproduction] and endocrine disruptor), and propiconazole (known to be toxic to reproduction). Within the EU, the first has been banned since 2020, the second since 2009.

Grapes from Peru contained residues of imidacloprid (notably singled out in the neonicotinoids dossier), and myclobutanil, which was withdrawn from the market within the EU in 2021. Another example: an orange from Tunisia contained malathion, a pesticide classified as “probably carcinogenic”, banned in the EU since 2008.

“Vert de rage” also reports that the NGO network Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) has combed through data from the European Food Safety Authority. The analyses show that more pesticides banned in Europe are found in certain product families: coffee, tea, spices and legumes. As for fruit, Tahitian limes, passion fruit and plums are the most affected. For vegetables and cereals, rice, zucchini and plantains form the trio most affected.

Products from elsewhere do not systematically carry pesticides (or residues) banned in the European Union. But the risk of detecting them is higher. “Imported food is twice as likely to contain EU-banned pesticides as food grown in the EU”note “Vert de rage” and PAN Europe.

Finding banned pesticides in imported products is not uncommon. In France, in 2022, the French Food Directorate (DGAL) issued 2,446 food recalls. In detail, 328 were related to the presence of pesticides. Of these, 296 contained at least one banned pesticide or pesticide metabolite (i.e. a residue). “prohibited exceeding the maximum limit allowed in the diet“, explains “Green with rage”.

In the EU, in 2022, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), an alert system that reports problems with agri-food products, reported that pesticide residues were the leading cause of food alerts. Among products distributed in France, 114 notifications concerned the presence of pesticide residues. Of these, 104 were related to residues of banned pesticides. In 2023, the RASFF issued 292 notifications for products containing pesticides, of which 77 contained at least one pesticide or a metabolite of banned pesticides.

“Vert de rage” underlines that in three years, “26.46% of products distributed in France containing banned pesticides came from India”making this country, “the most common source” for this type of problem.

In addition to the presence of banned pesticides found in imported foods, “Vert de rage” also looked at pesticides withdrawn from the European market, but still produced in France to be exported to countries where they remain authorized. In partnership with the Swiss NGO Public Eye (which had pointed out this flaw since 2022), the figures for the countries receiving these French exports are revealed exclusively: for 2023, Brazil comes in first place, followed by Ukraine, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The production of these pesticides banned in mainland France is not without consequences. Samples of drinking water, surface water and groundwater were taken near two factories: a Syngenta site in Saint-Pierre-la-Garenne (Eure), and BASF in Saint-Aubin-lès-Elbeuf (Seine-Maritime). The first produces thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid banned in France since 2018, the second fipronil, which has been banned in France since 2004. The analyses show “environmental pollution linked to past or present production”even if the levels do not always exceed the standards. The two groups concerned assure that they are not in violation and regularly inform the authorities of the situation.