We have looked at all the governments published residue results between Jan 2000 and June 2005, and summarised what they tell us about the pesticide residues in apples.

Apples have been tested on nine occasions since the beginning of 2000. The next surveys will be conducted in the 4th quarter of 2005 and the 2nd and 4th quarters of 2006.

The total number of samples that have been tested is 1,154, which includes 24 organic samples (Each sample is at least 10 apples weighing at least 1 kg).

Which pesticides turn up on apples?
The five most commonly reported pesticides (with approximate percentages* of non-organic survey samples reported to contain them):

*Not all the individual pesticides were tested for in all the samples, and so the percentages may underestimate their occurrence.

Find out more about the health and environmental effects of these pesticides

There were 39 different pesticides found at least once over the 9 surveys

How frequently do residues occur on apples?
56% (649) of all samples contained measurable residues, including 1 organic sample.

30% (343) of samples had more than one pesticide residue. The highest number of pesticides found in one sample was seven.  The average number of pesticides found in non-organic samples was 1.05.  Taking into account only those samples that do contain residues, the average number of pesticides found was 1.8

How often are residues greater than legal limits?
Four samples had a residue that was above the legal limit.