Safe to Eat Project: 21.29% vegetable, fruit samples yield pesticide residues above permissible levels
An analysis of vegetables and fruits under the 'Safe to Eat' project covering Palakkad, Kannur and Kollam districts has revealed pesticide residues above permissible levels in 21.29% of the tested samples.
The tests by the Pesticide Residue Research and Analytical Laboratory (PRRAL), a Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) facility at Vellayani here, found pesticide residues above the the limit prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India/Codex (FSSAI/Codex) in 43 of 202 samples that were collected and tested.
Twenty-eight vegetable samples and 15 fruit samples yielded pesticide residues, according to the PRRAL report. The listed included okra, brinjal, capsicum, carrot, ginger, gooseberry, green chilli, potato, string beans, apple, sapota (chikoo), grapes, guava, mosambi, pomegranate, orange, strawberry, garlic and coriander leaves.
For the latest edition of the report, tests were carried out in 16 block panchayats, ten municipalities and two corporations in Palakkad, Kannur and Kollam districts. They covered the period from January to March 2025.
Tests revealed the presence of insecticides including monocrotophos, acephate, profenofos, acetamiprid, chlorantraniliprole, fenvalerate, imidacloprid, quinalphos, clothianidin, lambda-cyhalothrin, omethoate, ethion, and the fungicides including hexaconazole, fluopicolide, metalaxyl and tebuconazole.
The previous report, which covered Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts based on an October-December 2024 survey, had found pesticide residues above permissible levels in 15.26% samples.
In 2023, the State Agriculture department had revamped the collection of surveillance samples under the 'Safe to Eat' project. Under the new format, three districts are covered under each survey. The samples are collected by the Food Safety Department.
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