2008 Herbs Special Survey
19 June 2008
PRC Secretariat
Why did the PRC carry out this survey?
Initial results from monitoring of herbs published in the PRC Quarter 4 2007 report contains some interesting results. At the end of the 2007/08 financial year some money was identified as available from PSD enforcement funds, and this special survey was quickly arranged to make good use of the money.
What types of herbs were included ?
All types of fresh, leafy herbs including herbs growing in pots sold for cooking (as opposed to planting) were covered by the survey. In practice the survey covered the most commonly available types.
How many pesticides did you test the samples for?
Samples in this special survey were tested only for a limited range of analytes likely to be detected based on the findings of the earlier survey.
Detailed Results
The detailed results (pdf, 28 KB) are in pdf format. They include details of brand names and where the samples were taken.
Why are there no brand name details for one sample?
The UK Government has a policy of publishing brand details for food surveys but also to give people a month to comment on findings of concern before they are identified. We are publishing these results only two or three weeks after we receive them. We wrote to the relevant sampling points about residues over the MRL just after the risk assessment was completed.
We will update the results and this page to include the missing details when the month to comment has expired or when we have received comments, whichever is the sooner.
Are there any health effects expected from the residues found?
Screening assessments were done for all residues sought. None of the residues found gave intakes above the Acute Reference Dose (ARfD) or Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI).
Have the Pesticide Residues Committee formally considered these results?
Yes. The Pesticide Residues Committee discussed these results at their meeting in May 2008. As a result the Secretariat has drawn these results to the attention of the Moroccan authorities.
The Committee will discuss the results for Quarter 1 (January to March) 2008 as a whole at their meeting in July 2008.
Summary of Results
How many samples did you take?
42
Where did they come from?
23 samples were imported from outside the EU
- 5 from Israel
- 18 from Morocco
11 samples were from Spain
8 samples were from the UK - these were all the samples of herbs growing in pots
How many samples contained residues above the MRL?
1 sample of flat leaf parsley from Morocco contained a residue of chlorpyrifos at 0.5 mg/kg. The MRL for chlorpyrifos in herbs is 0.05 mg/kg
How many samples contained only residues at or below the MRL?
16 samples contained only residues at or below the MRL - 1 from Israel, 14 from Morocco and 1 from Spain
How many samples contained more than one residue?
10 samples from Morocco contained more than one residue
- 4 samples contained 2 residues
- 5 samples contained 3 residues
- 1 sample contained 4 residues