Just when it appeared Europeans were moving away from agribusiness and towards organic and more sustainable agriculture, along comes some more shocking statistics to prove us wrong!

A recent EU report conducted by the French organisation Movement for the rights and respect of future generations (MDRGF) has found that 49.5% of fruits, vegetables and cereals within the EU are polluted with pesticides – the highest level of contamination ever recorded in Europe.

Legal limits exceeded
Even more worryingly, it appears that the EU is using their new guidelines (which allow for raised levels of pesticides) to assess fruits and vegetables. It has been found that more than 2500 samples of foodstuffs from across 28 EU countries contain above the legal limit of chemicals.

In a statement accompanying their report, MDRGF said, "In total, 4.7% of fruits and vegetables tested contained concentrations of pesticides above the maximum legal limit. The European commission is counting on the new 'normal' levels, artificially raised in 2008 to artificially solve the problem."

Harmful to health
The MDRGF also found that 23 pesticides have been found at levels that could be harmful to human health. The organisation claim that five of these chemical products which are used commonly in foodstuffs throughout the EU are classified as carcinogens, mutagens, toxic for reproduction or disruptive to the hormonal system.