South African avocados have a 20-fold increase in residues of a banned pesticide in the EU

The European Commission's rapid feed and food alert system (RASFF) detected a batch of Hass avocados from South Africa that multiplies by 20 the maximum permitted residue of Procloraz, a phytosanitary material whose use has been prohibited in the European Union since 2022 due to its risk to human health. The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) condemned in a statement this new food alert from South Africa - which adds to the interceptions of quarantine pests and diseases in its citrus imports - and accused this country of "continuing to fail to comply with the phytosanitary safety of its agricultural products, thus harming the profitability of European producers and the health of European consumers." AVA-ASAJA explained that the imported fruit, which has already been withdrawn from the market, was intercepted in France due to a “serious risk decision”, according to the RASFF community portal, as it exceeded the MRLs of two substances in a sampling carried out on October ...