The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) has issued a consumer warning through German authorities after high levels of three pesticides were detected in cherries imported from Turkey. The foregoing was announced through inquiries from the team at Hortoinfo, a Spanish information portal, regarding RASFF notification number 2023.5584 on Aug. 17.
As reported by SimFruit based on the information, an official market inspection on July 19 found an excessive presence of the pesticides chlorpyrifos, dimethoate and omethoate, in all cases exceeding their maximum residue limit (MRL).
Chlorpyrifos was present in Turkish cherries at a level of 0.029 +/- 0.015 mg/kg - ppm, where the prescribed MRL is 0.01 mg/kg - ppm.
Meanwhile, dimethoate was present in Turkish cherries at a level of 0.16 +/- 0.08 mg/kg - ppm. Regarding omethoate, the analyses showed a content of 0.069 +/- 0.035 mg/kg - ppm. In both cases, the MRL is set at 0.01 mg/kg - ppm, as for chlorpyrifos.
A further alert for Turkish cherries was issued a week later in Denmark due to high levels of dimethoat and omethoat (ref. 2023.5779). The risk was identified as potentially serious and a recall was ordered.
The results of the sampling of this second batch:
Sampling | Hazard | Category | Analytical results | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 JUL 2023 | Dimethoate - pesticide residues | Pesticide residues | 0,04 +/- 0,02 mg/kg - ppm | 0,01 mg/kg - ppm |
| 4 JUL 2023 | Omethoate - pesticide residues | Pesticide residues | 0,018 +/- 0,009 mg/kg - ppm | 0,01 mg/kg - ppm |
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