The European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff) has issued a health alert collected by FACUA-Consumers in Action in which they report the detection of an excess of the pesticide known as 'Plonicamid' in watermelons coming from Spain. From FACUA they regret that “this organization does not offer information about the brand, the batch, or any other identifying data of the location of the place where these watermelons were grown.”

In this sense, the Dutch authorities have confirmed that the residue levels of this pesticide are 0.74 mg/kg-ppm, while the established maximum limit is 0.4 mg/kg-ppm.. For its part, the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (Aesan), which reports to the Ministry of Consumption, has not notified the notice yet.

Lack of information on affected watermelons

The European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff) has classified the alert as a “serious” level. This pesticide belongs to the family of Pyridinecarboxamides and is used to control more than 40 different types of aphids on crops.

From FACUA they emphasize that the lack of information “makes it impossible for consumers to verify if they have bought or consumed any of the watermelons affected by this excess of pesticide”. For this reason, the organization considers it necessary that “European alerts include more extensive information in order to know at least the affected brand or batch.”