The European Comission (EC) has recently warned about the presence of watermelons from Morocco with traces of a pesticide, the methomyl, above the permitted levels, after receiving a notice from spain through the Community Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff).
The notification occurred on the 14th, with an update on the 20th, through the Rasff system, through which Spain communicated the alert to the EC, which in turn sent the information to the rest of the countries of the European Union (EU).
The consumer organization Facua has echoed this communication, in which the EC has specified that the fruit exceeds the presence of this pesticide allowed by community regulations.
The EU detection system has categorized the level of risk as “serious”, according to Facua, which has pointed out that methomyl is “a substance that is used as a pesticide and that can have serious consequences in some cases”.
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According to a report published by the EC, in 2022 there were 990 notifications related to pesticide residues through Rasff, which, however, represented a decrease of 20% compared to 2021. However, the EC has reflected in its notification that no action has been taken in reaction to this finding.
Facua has added in a statement that methomyl can cause symptoms of intoxication such as “headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, tremors and blurred vision” and that its mixture with alcohol “can impact the nervous system”.