The latest analysis of vegetables and fruits under the ‘Safe to Eat’ project covering three districts has revealed pesticide residues above permissible levels in 15.26% of the tested samples.
Tests by the Pesticide Residue Research and Analytical Laboratory (PRRAL), a Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) facility at Vellayani here, found pesticide residues in 14 types of vegetables and four types of fruits. The vegetables included ash gourd, beans, bitter gourd, brinjal, capsicum, carrot, ginger, green chilli, ivy gourd, lemon, cucumber, bottle gourd, snake gourd and tomato. The fruits included apple, custard apple, orange, papaya (red lady) and pomegranate.
The latest tests covering the period from October to December 2024 were carried out in two corporations, 14 block panchayats and ten municipalities in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. Of the 190 samples tested, pesticide residues above permissible levels were found in 29. The residues detected were above the limit prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India/Codex (FSSAI/Codex), the report said.
Tests revealed the presence of insecticides such as acephate, imidacloprid, profenofos, omethoate, lambda-cyhalothrin, bifenthrin, acetamiprid, clothianidin, fenvalerate, thiamethoxam, and the fungicides propiconazole, carbendazim, difenoconazole, flusilazole, hexaconazole and metalaxyl.
The previous survey which covered Thrissur, Kottayam and Kasaragod districts for the period July-September 2024 had revealed residues in 13.33% of the samples.
The State Agriculture department had overhauled the collection of surveillance samples under the ‘Safe to Eat’ project in 2023. Under the revised format, three districts are covered under each survey. The samples are collected by the Food Safety department.
