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 flour.

Flour has been tested on two occasions since the beginning of 2000. The next survey will be conducted in the 4th quarter of 2006.

The total number of samples that have been tested is 72, which includes 6 organic samples (Each sample is at least 0.5 kg).  Of these samples, 47 were white flour, 24 were wholemeal or brown and one organic sample was of rye flour.

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

1	Chlormequat	77%
2	Pirimiphos-methyl	14%
3	Glyphosate	11%

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

There were only these three pesticides found in the two surveys

How frequently do residues occur on flour?
72% (52) of all samples contained measurable residues; none of these were organic.

18% (13) of samples had more than one pesticide residue. The highest number of pesticides found in one sample was three.  The average number of pesticides found in non-organic samples was 1.01.  Taking into account only those samples that do contain residues, the average number of pesticides found was 1.3

How often are residues greater than legal limits?
No samples of flour had a residue that was above the legal limit.

Comparison of white and wholemeal/brown flour

• The proportion of samples in which chlormequat was found was higher for wholemeal/brown flour than for white flour
• The mean concentration of chlormequat in wholemeal/brown flour more than twice that found in white .
• There were 7 glyphosate occurrences; all of these were in wholemeal or brown flour.
• There were 9 pirimiphos-methyl occurrences; 7 of these were in wholemeal or brown flour.
• 13 samples contained more than one pesticide; 11 of these were wholemeal or brown flour.