The 2020 European Union report on pesticide residues in food
2022; Wiley; Volume: 20; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7215
ISSN1831-4732
AutoresLuis Carrasco Cabrera, Paula Medina Pastor,
Tópico(s)Vitamin K Research Studies
ResumoEFSA JournalVolume 20, Issue 3 e07215 Scientific ReportOpen Access The 2020 European Union report on pesticide residues in food European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Corresponding Author European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) idata@efsa.europa.eu Correspondence:idata@efsa.europa.euSearch for more papers by this authorLuis Carrasco Cabrera, Luis Carrasco CabreraSearch for more papers by this authorPaula Medina Pastor, Paula Medina PastorSearch for more papers by this author European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Corresponding Author European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) idata@efsa.europa.eu Correspondence:idata@efsa.europa.euSearch for more papers by this authorLuis Carrasco Cabrera, Luis Carrasco CabreraSearch for more papers by this authorPaula Medina Pastor, Paula Medina PastorSearch for more papers by this author First published: 30 March 2022 https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7215 Requestor: European Commission Question number: EFSA-Q-2020-00409 Declarations of interest: The declarations of interest of all scientific experts active in EFSA’s work are available at https://ess.efsa.europa.eu/doi/doiweb/doisearch. Acknowledgements: EFSA wishes to thank Maria Gaspari and Komninos Stougiannidis from the Plant Protection Product Department of the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food for the valuable proposals and the independent scientific review of this report. EFSA wishes to thank too Elisa Corsini, Bruno Dujardin, Rubén Fuertes, Luna Greco, Sara Levorato, Luc Mohimont, Hermine Reich, Gianluca Rossi, Simon Terry and Giuseppe Triacchini for their support provided in this scientific output as well as a special recognition to Hypertech for their work. Lastly, EFSA wishes to acknowledge all European Competent Authorities and Member State bodies that provided data to generate this scientific output. Adopted: 24 February 2022 This publication is linked to the following EFSA Supporting Publications article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2903/sp.efsa.2022.EN-7216/full AboutSectionsPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Under European Union legislation (Article 32, Regulation (EC) No 396/2005), the EFSA provides an annual report which examines pesticide residue levels in foods on the European market. This report is based on data from the official national control activities carried out by EU Member States, Iceland and Norway and includes a subset of data from the EU-coordinated control programme, which uses a randomised sampling strategy. For 2020, 94.9% of the overall 88,141 samples analysed fell below the maximum residue level (MRL), 5.1% exceeded this level, of which 3.6% were non-compliant, i.e. samples exceeding the MRL after taking the measurement uncertainty into account. For the subset of 12,077 samples analysed as part of the EU-coordinated multiannual control programme, 1.7% exceeded the MRL and 0.9% were non-compliant. To assess acute and chronic risk to consumer health, dietary exposure to pesticide residues was estimated and compared with health-based guidance values. Dietary exposure to pesticides for which health-based guidance values were available is unlikely to pose a risk to EU consumer health. In the rare cases where dietary exposure for a specific pesticide/product combination was calculated to exceed the health-based guidance value, and for those pesticides for which no health-based guidance value could be established, the competent authorities took appropriate and proportionate corrective measures to address potential risks to consumers. Recommendations are proposed to increase the effectiveness of European control systems, thereby continuing to ensure a high level of consumer protection throughout the EU. Summary The 2020 EU report on pesticide residues in food provides an overview of the official control activities on pesticide residues carried out in the EU Member States,11 As of 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom became a third country. The United Kingdom (UK) data have been included and evaluated in the present report because in accordance with the Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU and with the established transition period (i.e. until 31/12/2020), the EU requirements on data sampling also applied to the UK. Iceland and Norway. It summarises the results of both the EU-coordinated control programme (EU MACP) and the national control programmes (MANCP). The report also includes the outcome of the risk assessment for both programmes. The analysis of the results from all reporting countries is presented in Annex I,22 A dedicated website where EU MACP and MANCP results are presented: https://multimedia.efsa.europa.eu/pesticides-report-2020/ a data visualisation format to provide stakeholders with a comprehensive, easily digestible analysis of the European situation related to the findings. The conclusions and recommendations derived from the results remain within this report, giving risk managers a tool for designing future monitoring programmes and taking appropriate decisions on which pesticides and food products should be targeted. EU-coordinated multiannual control programme (EU MACP) The EU MACP covers the most consumed food products by EU citizens as indicated in the EU MACP Regulation (EU) 2019/533 and sampled randomly. The listed food products are distributed across a 3-year cycle, so that every 3 years the same products are analysed. A snapshot of the situation in 2020 of the pesticide residues present in those food products is provided and compared with 2017 and 2014. For the 2020 EU MACP, 12 food products were selected: carrots, cauliflowers, kiwi fruits (green, red, yellow), onions, oranges, pears, potatoes, dried beans, brown rice, rye grain, bovine liver and poultry fat. A total of 12,077 samples were analysed.33 These samples exclude those of baby food requested under the EU MACP. Overall, 68.5% (8,278 samples) were found to be without quantifiable levels of residues (residues < LOQ). The number of samples with pesticide residues within legal limits (at or above the LOQ but below or at the MRL) was 3,590 (29.7%). MRLs44 The ‘maximum residue level’ (MRL) is defined as the upper legal level of concentration for a pesticide residue in or on food or feed set in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005, based on good agricultural practice and the lowest consumer exposure necessary to protect vulnerable consumers. were exceeded in 209 samples (1.7%), 113 of which (0.9%) were found to be non-compliant based on the measurement uncertainty. Reporting countries analysed on average 60% of domestic products (i.e. samples from the reporting country), 22% from other EU countries, 14% from third countries and 4% of unknown origin. Some countries were unable to meet the sampling targets required by the EU MACP Regulation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. EU-coordinated and national programmes (EU MACP + MANCP) The overall EU pesticide monitoring programmes for 2020 incorporate both the results of the EU-coordinated control programme (EU MACP) and the individual national programmes (MANCP), as implemented by the 28 Member States, Iceland and Norway. A total of 88,141 samples were analysed. The total number of samples decreased by 9.3% compared to 2019 (96,302 samples) mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reporting countries analysed 659 pesticides, with an average of 264 pesticides per sample (233 pesticides in 2019). Of the total number of analysed samples, 94.9% (83,666 samples) fell within legal limits (83,666 samples) (96.1% in 2019); of these, 48,181 samples (54.6%) did not contain quantifiable residues (results below the LOQ for each pesticide analysed) while 40.3% of the samples analysed contained quantified residues not exceeding the legal limits (35,485 samples). In total, MRLs were exceeded in 5.1% of the samples (4,475), an increase compared with 2019 (3.9%). When taking into account the measurement uncertainty, it was found that 3.6% (3,156 samples) of all the samples triggered legal sanctions or enforcement actions, an increase compared with 2019 (2.3%). Dietary exposure and risk assessment An analysis of the health risk to consumers has been performed using the deterministic Pesticide Residues Intake Model (PRIMo rev. 3.1), considered to be a conservative assessment methodology. Overall, for most of the samples analysed in the framework of the 2020 pesticide monitoring programmes (EU MACP and MANCP), dietary exposure to pesticides for which health-based guidance values (HBGV) are available is unlikely to pose a risk to EU consumer health. In the rare cases where dietary exposure for a specific pesticide/product combination was calculated to exceed the health-based guidance value (using conservative assumptions), and for those pesticides for which no HBGV could be established, the competent authorities took appropriate and proportionate corrective measures to address potential risks to consumers. In future reports on pesticide residues in food, the deterministic exposure assessments will be accompanied by probabilistic assessments of single substances, allowing better quantification of the possible risks, and the associated uncertainties. 1 Background 1.1 Legal Basis Pesticide residues,55 The term pesticide residue is used throughout this report and its annexes, to refer to measurable amounts of an active substance and/or related metabolites and/or degradation products that can be found on harvested crops or in foods of animal origin. resulting from the use of plant protection products66 The term plant protection products (PPP) used throughout this report and its annexes, pertains to a product containing an active substance and other substances added and/or their products to ensure, among others, plant protection against harmful organisms, influence their life processes (e.g. growth regulators), destroy or prevent growth of undesired plants or parts of them in the fields, etc. on crops or food products that are used for food, can potentially pose a risk to public health. For this reason, a comprehensive legislative framework has been established in the European Union (EU), which defines rules for the approval of active substances used in plant protection products,77 Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC. OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 1-50. their use and their residues in food. To ensure a high level of consumer protection, legal limits, or so-called ‘maximum residue levels’ (MRLs)4 are established in Regulation (EC) No 396/2005.88 Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 2005 on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed of plant and animal origin and amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC. OJ L 70, 16.3.2005, p. 1–16. EU-harmonised MRLs are set for more than 1,300 pesticides covering 378 food products/food groups. A default MRL of 0.01 mg/kg is applicable to nearly 690 of these pesticides which are not explicitly mentioned in the MRL legislation. Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 imposes the obligation on Member States to carry out controls to ensure that food placed on the market is compliant with the legal limits. This regulation establishes both EU and national control programmes: EU-coordinated control programme: This programme defines the food products and pesticides that should be monitored by all Member States. The EU-coordinated programme (EU MACP) relevant for the calendar year 2020 was set up in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2019/53399 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/533 of 28 March 2019 concerning a coordinated multiannual control programme of the Union for 2020, 2021 and 2022 to ensure compliance with maximum residue levels of pesticides and to assess the consumer exposure to pesticide residues in and on food of plant and animal origin. OJ L 88, 29.3.2019, p. 28–41. hereafter referred to as ‘2020 EU MACP Regulation’ or ‘2020 monitoring programme’, National control programmes: Member States usually define the scope of national control programmes, focussing on certain products, which are expected to contain residues in concentrations exceeding the legal limits, or on products that are more likely to pose risks for consumer safety (Article 301010 Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 remains applicable until 14/12/2022 according to Regulation (EU) No 2017/625. From 15/12/2022, the MANCP will be established by Member States in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2021/1355. of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005). According to Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, Member States are requested to share1111 Within EFSA terminology, the term share refers to fully accept the data in EFSA’s sDWH. the results of the official controls and other relevant information with the European Commission, EFSA and other Member States by the 31 August each year. Under Article 32 of the above-mentioned Regulation, EFSA is responsible for preparing an Annual Report on pesticide residues, analysing the data in view of the MRL compliance of food available in the EU and the exposure of European consumers to pesticide residues. In addition, based on these findings, EFSA derives recommendations for future monitoring programmes. Specific MRLs are set in Directives 2006/125/EC1212 Commission Directive 2006/125/EC of 5 December 2006 on processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children. OJ L 339, 6.12.2006, p. 16–35. and 2006/141/EC1313 Commission Directive 2006/141/EC of 22 December 2006 on infant formulae and follow-on formulae and amending Directive 1999/21/EC. OJ L 401, 30.12.2006, p. 1–33. for food intended for infants and young children. Following the precautionary principle, the legal limit for these types of food products was set at a low level (limit of quantification); in general, a default MRL of 0.01 mg/kg is applicable unless lower legal limits for the residue levels are defined in these Directives. Regulation (EU) No 609/20131414 Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control and repealing Council Directive 92/52/EEC, Commission Directives 96/8/EC, 1999/21/EC, 2006/125/EC and 2006/141/EC, Directive 2009/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 41/2009 and (EC) No 953/2009. OJ L181, 29.6.2013, p. 35–56. repeals the aforementioned Directives; however, the pesticide MRLs of Directive 2006/125/EC and 2006/141/EC were still applicable in 2020. It is noted that some of the active substances for which legal limits are set under Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 are also covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010 on pharmacologically active substances.1515 Commission Regulation (EU) No 37/2010 of 22 December 2009 on pharmacologically active substances and their classification regarding maximum residue limits in foodstuffs of animal origin. OJ L 015 20.1.2010, p. 1. For these so-called dual use substances, Member States perform controls in accordance with Council Directive 96/23/EC1616 Council Directive 96/23/EC of 29 April 1996 on measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in live animals and animal products and repealing Directives 85/358/EEC and 86/469/EEC and Decisions 89/187/EEC and 91/664/EEC. OJ L 125, 23.5.1996, p. 10. for veterinary medicinal products (VMPR). Results of the controls for dual use substances are reported within this report if MS Competent Authority has flagged as so in the remit of the ChemMon data collection (EFSA, 2021b). Otherwise, results are reported in another EFSA output on VMPR residues (EFSA, 2022a). It should be highlighted that for organic products, no specific MRLs are established. The MRLs set in Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 apply equally to organic food and to conventional food. However, Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 889/20081717 Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products with regard to organic production, labelling and control. OJ L 250, 18.9.2008, p. 1–84. on organic production of agricultural products defines the restrictions in place for the use of plant protection products. Regulation (EU) 2019/17931818 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 of 22 October 2019 on the temporary increase of official controls and emergency measures governing the entry into the Union of certain goods from certain third countries implementing Regulations (EU) 2017/625 and (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Regulations (EC) No 669/2009, (EU) No 884/2014, (EU) 2015/175, (EU) 2017/186 and (EU) 2018/1660. OJ L 277, 29.10.2019, p. 89–129. lays down rules concerning the temporary increased level of official controls to be carried out on a list of food of non-animal origin and feed which based on known or emerging risks, requires increased levels of controls prior to their introduction into the EU. The food products, the country of origin of the products, the frequency of checks to be performed at border control posts (BCPs) or at control points (CPs) into the EU territories and the hazards (e.g. pesticides residues, not approved food additives, mycotoxins, pentachlorophenol, dioxins and microbiological contamination) are specified in Annex I and II to this regulation which is regularly updated; for the calendar year 2020, it was amended twice.1919 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/625 of 6 May 2020 amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 on the temporary increase of official controls and emergency measures governing the entry into the Union of certain goods from certain third countries implementing Regulations (EU) 2017/625 and (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/943 and Commission Implementing Decision 2014/88/EU. OJ L 144, 7.5.2020, p. 13–33.,2020 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1540 of 22 October 2020 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 as regards sesame seeds originating in India. OJ L 353, 23.10.2020, p. 4–7. Finally, due to the pandemic situation, Regulation (EU) No 2020/4662121 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/466 of 30 March 2020 on temporary measures to contain risks to human, animal and plant health and animal welfare during certain serious disruptions of Member States’ control systems due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19). OJ L 98, 31.3.2020, p. 30–33. allowed Member States to apply temporary measures in relation to official controls and other official activities due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) such as disruptions in planned official controls. 1.2 Terms of Reference In accordance with Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005, EFSA shall prepare an annual report on pesticide residues concerning the official control activities for food carried out in 2020. The annual report shall include at a minimum the following information: an analysis of the results of the controls on pesticide residues provided by EU Member States, a statement of the possible reasons why the MRLs were exceeded, together with any appropriate observations regarding risk management options, an analysis of chronic and acute risks to the health of consumers from pesticide residues, an assessment of consumer exposure to pesticide residues based on the information provided by Member States and any other relevant information available, including reports submitted under Directive 96/23/EC2222 Council Directive 96/23/EC of 29 April 1996 on measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in live animals and animal products and repealing Directives 85/358/EEC and 86/469/EEC and Decisions 89/187/EEC and 91/664/EEC. OJ L 125, 23.5.1996, p. 10–32.. In addition, the report may include a recommendation on the pesticides, products or combinations of them that should be included in future monitoring programmes. 2 Introduction This report provides a detailed insight into the control activities at European level and the results from the official control activities performed by the EU Member States,1 including Iceland and Norway as members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and of the European Economic Area (EEA). The main purpose of the data analysis presented in this report is to give risk managers the necessary information to decide on risk management issues. At the same time, the report aims to address questions such as: How frequently were pesticide residues found in food? Which food products frequently contained pesticide residues? Compared with previous years, are there any notable changes? In which products were breaches of the legal limits identified by the Member States? And in which could be the reasons for these breaches? What actions were taken by the national competent authorities responsible for food control to ensure that pesticide residues in food not complying with the European food standards are not placed on the EU market? Do the residues in food pose a risk to consumer health? This report aims to answer these questions in a way that can be understood without deep knowledge on the subject. Furthermore, EFSA developed a data visualisation tool to help end users gain insights from the vast amount of data underpinning this report. The 2020 EU-coordinated programme results, as defined by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2019/5338 and the national programme results as defined in Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 396/20057, are presented in Annex I.2 An overall summary evaluation can still be found in Sections 3 and 4 of this report, but figures, maps and tables are in Annex I. The results of the dietary exposure assessments to individual pesticides are described in Section 5, complementary graphs on the acute risk assessment to the EU MACP food products are presented in Appendix B – whereas results of PRIMo tool deterministic risk assessments to single substance are presented in Annex II. The websites of the national competent authorities can be seen in Appendix A of this report. The raw data provided by reporting countries and anonymised by EFSA can also be downloaded from the Open Science platform Zenodo2323 https://zenodo.org/search?page=1&size=20&q=results%20from%20the%20monitoring%20of%20pesticide%20residues%20in%20food by typing: ‘Member-State-Name results from the monitoring of pesticide residues in food’. Furthermore, separate tables under Annex III are published in Zenodo.2424 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6322020 These are: – Table 3.1 – The 2020 EU-coordinated multiannual programme of the Union – Table 3.2 – List of samples exceeding the MRLs, including information on the measured residue concentrations and the origin of the samples – Table 3.3 – Scope of analysis of pesticides reported – Table 3.4 – Regulation (EU) 2019/1793 on the temporary increase of official controls – extract of the controls to be performed of pesticides in food – Table 3.5 – Health-based guidance values (HBGV) – Table 3.6 – Processing factors used to refine acute exposure assessment In addition, EFSA compiled a technical report (EFSA, 2022b) containing the descriptive information of the pesticide monitoring activity by year and submitted by the reporting countries. Here, further details at national level are provided. 3 EU-multiannual coordinated control programme (EU MACP) In compliance with the 2020 EU monitoring programme satisfying Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 2019/5338, reporting countries sampled and analysed a given number of pesticide/food product combinations. These included carrots, cauliflowers, kiwi fruits (green, red, yellow), onions, oranges, pears, potatoes, dried beans, brown rice, rye grain, bovine liver and poultry fat. These were compared with the same food products sampled in 2017 and 2014 for the EU monitoring programmes. Exceptions including kiwi fruits (green, red, yellow), cauliflower, onions, dried beans and rye grain were only compared with 2017 results as in 2014 these were not required. The 2020 results for bovine liver were only compared with the corresponding 2014 results. Overall, 186 pesticide residues were included in the 2020 EU MACP presented in Annex III – Table 3.1. Of those, 163 were to be analysed in plant commodities, nine in animal commodities and 14 both in plant and animal commodities. Compared to 2017 (171 pesticides) and 2014 (213 pesticides) programmes, the 2020 EU MACP included 15 additional pesticide residues (ametoctradin (RD), cyazofamid (RD), cyflufenamid, emamectin (RD), etoxazole (RD), fenpyrazamine, fluopicolide (RD), fluxapyroxad (RD), metrafenone (RD), omethoate (RD), proquinazid (RD), prosulfocarb (RD), spirotetramat (RD), thiodicarb (RD) and tricyclazole (RD)). Therefore, a direct comparison with the two previous years is not possible. Haloxyfop (RD) and prothioconazole (RD) results in 2020 have been compared only with 2014 as they were reintroduced in 2020 only. Isoprothiolane (RD) and triadimefon (RD) in 2020 have been compared with 2017 only, as they were not part of the 2014 EU MACP. From the 12 food products in 2020 EU MACP, samples from organic production systems were to be taken too in proportion to the market share of each commodity within each reporting country with a minimum of 1. In total, 941 organic samples2525 The minimum number of 12 samples mentioned in the EU MACP on organic were not reported by Hungary (five samples), Slovenia (six samples), Slovakia (eight samples), Estonia (nine samples) and Ireland (10 samples). were analysed. In addition, five samples of infant formulae and five more of follow-on formulae were to be sampled. The total number of samples reported under baby food categories amounted to 413 samples.2626 The minimum number of five samples per baby food category mentioned in the EU MACP were not reached by Estonia (eight samples), Finland (three samples), France (four samples), Latvia (two samples), Portugal (five samples), Romania (nine samples) and Sweden (two samples). A comprehensive analysis of these results is reported in Section 4.3.2 where the data for all baby food samples are pooled. This category of samples has not been included in Annex I – EU MACP chapter.2 The lack of compliance with the EU MACP Regulation on the number of minimum samples to be taken was reported by nine EU MSs (Bulgaria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Ireland, Austria, Estonia, United Kingdom) due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Based on Regulation (EU) 2020/466,2727 Regulation (EU) 2020/466 of 30 March 2020 on temporary measures to contain risks to human, animal and plant health and animal welfare during certain serious disruptions of Member States’ control systems due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19). OJ L 98, 31.3.2020, p. 30–33. MS could inform EFSA of a reduced number of samples to be taken with respect to their programme due to these exceptional circumstances. On the contrary, Romania, Poland, Spain, Italy, France and Germany sampled more than 5% of what was required. The EU MACP Regulation also sets a minimum of 683 samples to be monitored per food product to estimate a minimum of 1% MRL exceedances with a margin of error of 0.75%. These numbers were distributed among EU Member States depending on their population size. The limits ranged from 12 to 97 samples per food product. The minimum number was not reached for rye grain (638 samples). However, it was noticeably increased for poultry fat (1,595 samples compared to 483 in 2017). The increased number of poultry fat samples could be due to the inclusion of footnote 7 in the Regulation allowing the sampling of meat (as well as fat) in accordance with Table 3 of the Annex to Directive 2002/63/EC. Another reason may be the pooling of VMPR samples reported under the harmonised Chemical Monitoring common data collection, as well as the increased concern of animal welfare and new VMPR control programmes foreseen. Bearing in mind that EU MACP samples are not only used to check for MRL compliance but also for carrying out deterministic and probabilistic exposure assessments to individual and multiple pesticides (see Section 5), EFSA recommends revisiting the calculation on the minimum number of samples to be taken by commodity as well as their distribution among EU MSs (EFSA, 2020a). In compliance with the EU MACP Regulation, 12,0772828 This number does not include samples of infant formulae and follow-on formulae which are presented under MANCP section of the report. samples were analysed. Overall, in 68.5% of samples (8,278 of the 12,077 samples analysed), no quantifiable levels of residues2929 In the context of this report, samples without quantifiable residues refer to results where the analytes were not present in concentrations at or exceeding the limit of quantification (LOQ). The LOQ is the smallest concentration of an analyte that can be quantified with any reliability. It is defined as the minimum concentration of the analyte in the test sample
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