Germany and Denmark: warnings over high pesticide levels for Turkish cherries

13 Sep 2023
4597

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 resultsMaximum
4 JUL 2023Dimethoate - pesticide residuesPesticide residues0,04 +/- 0,02 mg/kg - ppm0,01 mg/kg - ppm
4 JUL 2023Omethoate - pesticide residuesPesticide residues0,018 +/- 0,009 mg/kg - ppm0,01 mg/kg - ppm


Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik


Cherry Times - All rights reserved

What to read next

Impacts of spur thinning on Lapins cherry orchards: growth and fruit quality

Production

10 Oct 2025

A field study in Chile on Lapins cherry trees reveals that spur thinning does not always improve fruit quality but can significantly affect vegetative growth. In-depth analysis on yield management, leaf area ratio, and seasonal climatic conditions in modern orchards.

How Uzbek cherries play a key role in the Central Asian market

Markets

04 Jul 2024

"The increase in domestic production has caused prices to fall and the cost-effectiveness has further squeezed market share,' says Zhu Jianfeng. 'Consequently, we have adapted our sales strategy to an order-based model".

In evidenza

Measuring rather than estimating: what artificial intelligence can and cannot do in the cherry sector

Tech management

11 Sep 2026

Artificial intelligence is transforming fruit growing in Chile: computer vision, machine learning and data help measure quality, yields and waste, reduce errors and improve decisions from the orchard to packing lines and export markets, including cherries and other fruit crops.

First report of pomes virus Greece in Italian sweet cherry

Breeding

11 Sep 2026

In Apulia, HTS identified Pomes virus Greece (PVGR) in sweet cherry for the first time in Italy. The virus was detected in 8.7% of the samples analysed, while one case of Cherry green ring mottle virus also marks the first regional report of CGRMV in southern Italy.

Tag Popolari