26/04/2010

On 23 April, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) published a statement on the possible risks from the pesticide chlormequat in grapes. This work is in response to an urgent request from the European Commission following information provided by importers of grapes from India. Chlormequat is an active substance used as a plant growth regulator and it is authorised for use in the EU only in cereals and non-edible crops.

In this statement EFSA’s experts say that if the concentration of chlormequat residues on grapes does not exceed the threshold of 1.06 mg/kg, it is not likely to constitute a health risk for consumers. In this assessment, as usual, the diets of the 27 Member States were taken into consideration, including the most vulnerable population groups, such as children.

In any case, EFSA states that the use of this pesticide is not permitted in the EU for use on grapes, and that the threshold of 1.6 mg/kg should not be understood as a recommendation for a change of the current Maximum Residue Level (MRL), but as the result of a safety assessment for a specific case in order to support decision makers in managing possible consumer health risks in the EU.

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