Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of bread sold in the UK contains at least two different pesticides.

Our pesticide regulations set strict controls on the levels of pesticide residue that are permitted in food to ensure the safety of consumers. The maximum permitted residue levels (MRLs) are always set below, and usually well below, the level considered to be safe for consumers. Our safety standards are some of the most stringent in the world – providing GB citizens with a high level of protection. We have an ongoing monitoring programme to analyse the levels of pesticides present in different food and ensure that food in the GB complies with these strict rules. HM Government routinely publishes the outcomes of this monitoring programme (at Pesticide residues in food: results of monitoring programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).

The Health and Safety Executive has carried out risk assessments on the findings of the monitoring reports for Quarter 3 and 4 of 2021 on bread, which concluded none of the combinations of pesticide residues would have an impact on human health.