Propiconazole

(asked on 21st February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of products in UK supermarkets that contain any amount of propiconazole.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 24th February 2022

Our pesticides regulations set strict controls on the amounts of pesticide residues that are permitted in food. We have an ongoing monitoring programme to provide assurance that food – including food imported from overseas – complies with the statutory maximum residue levels (MRLs) allowed. The results of this monitoring are published on the GOV.uk website.

In the most recent data (2020 and the first half of 2021), a total of 2,747 samples of food were collected and analysed for the presence of propiconazole. Of these, 38 samples were found to contain residues of this chemical, none of which were above the permitted MRLs set by law. These results indicate that propiconazole is not widely detected in food available to UK shoppers, and when it is detected, has been within the permitted limits.

HSE have proposed to lower the MRL for propiconazole to the default minimum level and details are expected to be announced shortly. This would mean food containing residues of this pesticide would no longer be able to be placed on the market in Great Britain.

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