Lemon crisis in Turkey: Chemical substance detected... Poland sent all lemons back

Food scandals continue to occur in Turkey every day. The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) detected pesticide residues well above normal limits in lemons sent from Turkey to be exported to Poland.

In notification number 2024.9431, it was announced that pesticides were found in the lemons at 21 times the permitted levels.

In the analyses conducted, it was determined that the substance Buprofezin, which is permitted to be at most 0.01 mg/kg - ppm, was at the level of 0.041 ± 0.021 mg/kg - ppm.

Furthermore, it was stated that the substance Etoxazole, for which the permitted upper limit is also 0.01 mg/kg - ppm, was found at levels of 0.043 ± 0.022 mg/kg - ppm.

POTENTIAL RISK WARNING

The RASFF report pointed out that these values pose a potential risk to human health. The fact that pesticide residue is at such high levels has increased concerns that serious health problems could occur with the consumption of the products.

Authorities emphasized that both exporters and consumers should be more careful against such situations, while drawing attention to the importance of bringing pesticide use in agricultural products under control.