The most common Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) detected were two fungicides – imazalil and thiabendazole. Each appeared in 9% of samples (131 out of 1,494) of mostly fruit, including grapefruit, bananas and melons. Fungicides are used to control fungus and mould, often while produce is being stored or transported. Both imazalil and thiabendazole are suspected endocrine disruptors with possible links to cancer.
29% of the pesticides detected are not approved for use by British farmers, often because of the harms they cause to health or environment. However, these chemicals end up in UK food regardless, because growers in non-EU countries use them on crops that are then exported to the UK. The government’s own expert body has repeatedly highlighted how this arrangement disadvantages British farmers.
We also analysed the UK government’s testing results for bread. Chlormequat – a plant growth regulator classified as a developmental toxin – was found in 97% of samples. Glyphosate – the UK’s most widely used herbicide linked repeatedly to various cancers and other chronic diseases – appeared in more than a quarter (28%) of bread samples. Almost half (47%) of the 216 samples of bread tested by the government contained pesticide cocktails.
