More than four out of ten items of fruit, vegetable and cereals on sale in Britain contain traces of pesticide, according to newspaper reports.
The findings originated from a new report, which investigates the levels of chemical contamination within the food chain.
About 43% of the total of 2,087 samples tested were found to contain some form of pesticide and 1.6% of these exceeded the maximum safety levels recommended by authorities.
These safety levels were most often exceeded in spinach, beans, oranges and mandarins and also peaches or nectarines. Levels of pesticides considered to be ‘safe’ were found in 78% of oranges and mandarins, 67% of pears and 56% of bananas.