Farmers' association Coldiretti has published a "black list" of the fresh produce imports to Italy that are most likely to be contaminated with irregular chemical residues, based on data from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The top three foods on the list are Chinese broccoli, which registered 92 per cent for chemical residue, followed by parsley from Vietnam with 78 per cent, and basil from India (60 per cent).
The top ten also includes pomegranates from Egypt, Thai chili, mint from Morocco, melons/watermelons from the Dominican Republic, Egyptian strawberries, Kenyan peas, and oranges from Egypt.
The association added that Italy has one of the best reputations for food safety in the world, reporting that only 0.4 per cent of its food products have irregular chemical residues, almost four times lower than the European average or 1.4 per cent, and almost 20 times that of non-EU products.
Earlier this week, Coldiretti organized protests in Naples against increasing foreign food imports that it says are replacing Italian products.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
