



Greek crops have been added to the list of the safest fruit and vegetables in the European Union, in regards to excessive use of pesticide residue, according to data released by the Food and Feed Safety Alerts (RASFF), for the first half of 2014.

Commenting on the statistics, the special advisor to the Association of Greek Export and Consignment Enterprises for Fruit, Vegetables and Juices INCOFRUIT – HELLAS, Giorgos Polichronakis, said: “Turkey showed the most cases of excessive use of pesticide residue in fruit and vegetables during the reported period, with 38 cases (34 of which were peppers) followed by Egypt with 16. Ranked third, with 12 cases, are countries such as India, the Dominican Republic and Nigeria. Spain has been reported with 5 cases, while the Netherlands and Morocco have 5 and four 4 cases respectively.”

The most notices for excessive use were submitted in Bulgaria (35), followed by Italy (21), the Netherlands (19), the United Kingdom (19) and France (18).

“The Greek products were ranked very high due to their purity. According to official EU data, Greece is once again among the member-states where fewer cases of excessive use of pesticide residue have been detected in plant products. It is very important that both Greek and European consumers are informed of this fact. Greek farmers were able to succeed by strictly following the rules of good agricultural practice,” stressed Polichronakis.



