In Italy the numbers of pesticides in food continue to improve

On December 19th the dossier Stop pesticides on your plate, drawn up by Legambiente in collaboration with Alce Nero.Positive data emerge from the new annual report, which confirms the trend of reduction in the use of pesticides already underway in the recent years and bring Italy closer to the use thresholds set by the European Union.The studies were conducted on a sample of 6085 foods from conventional and organic farming, resulting in a very low percentage of irregular foods.These data confirm the leader position that Italy holds in the agri-food sector, thanks to an area of ​​2.3 million hectares of organic cultivation and with a UAA (Used Agricultural Surface) of 18.7%.Among the reassurances, Legambiente warns however that There are still many steps to be taken and, in this regard, makes some suggestions to overcome the critical issues and meet the needs of citizens' health and the well-being of the environment.

From the data collected by Legambiente, both the percentage of irregular samples, which stops at 1.62%, and that of traces present in food within legal limits, which fell from 44.1% last year to 39.21%, while the percentage of regular and residue-free foods, which grows from 54.8% to 59.18%.Like every year, the most affected category is fruit, of which 67.96% of samples present one or more pesticide residues, and specifically exotic fruit such as bananas, kiwis and mangoes, in which the highest percentage of irregularities was found, reaching 7.41% .As for vegetables, the data is improving, so much so that 68.55% is residue-free.Among processed foods, cereals and wine are confirmed as those with the highest residual rate allowed (71.21% and 50.85% respectively), while among products of animal origin, 88.17% was free of residues.

The pesticides mainly detected by Legambiente studies, as well as those talked about when dealing with the topic, are fungicides and insecticides, now ascertained be a source of notable damage to the ecosystem, as well as health of consumers.For this reason, the European Commission proposed the regulation SUR (Sustainable use of pesticides Regulation), in which the project falls Farm to fork, a ten-year program that aims to design a more sustainable food system with the objective of 50% reduction in pesticides by 2030.The improvements noted by Legambiente are in line with those shared by the European Commission itself:in the ranking of the countries that use the least pesticides in Europe, in fact, Italy ranks fifth, behind only Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Romania, and appears to be one of the countries closest to the 2030 target.The result regarding the use of high-risk pesticides is different, in which Italy is perfectly placed in the European average, but has not seen any improvement since 2019.

The improvements recorded in the Bel Paese are notable, but Legambiente is keen to point out that there are still many problems to be solved, and that the contamination is still too high.It is for this reason that the environmentalist association has forcefully launched an appeal to Italy and Europe "asking for concrete interventions from a legislative perspective", and specifically more solid measures in support of the SUR and of PAN, the National Action Plan on the sustainable use of plant protection products.Specifically, according to Legambiente we need to carry on a tough battle against glyphosate, and you also need one specific law on multiresidue which prohibits the co-presence of multiple active ingredients in foods.This last regulation is particularly urgent according to the association, because the presence of multiple residues in the same food "can cause negative additive and synergistic effects for human health" and currently the percentage of multi-residues in foods with traces is 23, 54%. The institutions must act.We need more detailed rules that concretely help the agri-food sector and that look at a more sustainable future.In Italy, local administrations have repeatedly shown that they are able to manage these requests, so much so that 70 municipalities have shared regulations on pesticides, but support from above is needed.It cannot be said what the fate of the agri-food sector is, but given the situation in its entirety, at least in our country, the improvements of recent years and the virtuous model of Italian mayors give rise to hope.

[by Dario Lucisano]