Environmental 
activist group Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) has released a report on pesticides found on fruits and vegetables, sold in Europe. According to the group, the conclusions contradict the European Commission's official claims that pesticide use is declining.
PAN even speaks of a "dramatic upward trend of fruit contaminated with the most dangerous category of pesticides" between 2011 and 2019. In total, more than 210,227 fruit and vegetable samples were included in the trend analysis for the years 2011-2019.
Margriet Mantingh, president of PAN Netherlands: "Syngenta, Bayer and other chemical giants will claim that these pesticide residues are perfectly safe. But medical experts say that there are no safe levels for some of these chemicals, which is true for most of these pesticides. We strongly recommend buying organic fruits and vegetables."
Counterpoint
Anika Gatt Seretny, a spokeswoman for the CropLife Europe trade association said: “The presence of substance traces doesn’t mean the food is unsafe. The European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) has conducted extensive research on this topic, demonstrating that consumer risk from dietary cumulative exposure is below the threshold and thus not a risk factor.”
For more information: theguardian.com