EU: 88% of South African citrus fruits have more active ingredients of pesticides than recommended

The data is revealing: 88% of South African citrus fruits sold in Spanish supermarkets could not be sold in most European supermarkets due to their internal use regulations. La Unió Llauradora has again purchased citrus fruits from South Africa - which are currently widely available on the shelves - from several of the supermarkets and hypermarkets with the largest presence in the Valencian Community - and has taken them to be analysed by an approved laboratory. In most of the 16 batches of South African citrus fruits purchased and analysed, it was observed that they had more pesticide active ingredients than recommended, which reveals that they do not meet the same quality standards as those required for distribution in other countries of the European Union and are therefore less environmentally sustainable than ours. Thus, the average number of active ingredients present per batch is 8, with a range of 5 at the bottom of a batch and 12 at the other end. The European distribution ...