Spinaches from Italy
How often official samples of spinaches grown in Italy break the EU maximum residue level for pesticides, by why the sample was taken.
There are only 29 random market samples, too few for a market rate. The substance found above the limit most often was abamectin (1 sample). UK supermarkets: 53 samples since 2022, 2 above the UK limit.
Substances found above the limit
| Substance | Where found | Samples |
|---|---|---|
| Abamectin | random samples | 1 |
The limit applied is the one the lab reported at the time of sampling. Limits change; check the current value in the EU Pesticides Database.
Random market samples
29 random samples (1 over the limit). That is too few for a market rate: one is shown from 30.
Also on file, never turned into a rate because inspectors chose them: 49 risk-based and 0 follow-up samples.
UK supermarket samples
| Month | Retailer | Residues found (mg/kg) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-11 | Sainsbury's | chlorate 0.02 (MRL = 0.7); spinosad (sum) 0.3 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-11 | Lidl | azadirachtin 0.2 (MRL = 1); spinosad (sum) 3.4 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-11 | Lidl | lenacil 0.041 (MRL = 0.1*); metalaxyl (sum) 0.023 (MRL = 1.5) |
| 2025-11 | Waitrose | chlorate 0.3 (MRL = 0.7); mandipropamid 0.1 (MRL = 25) |
| 2025-11 | Sainsbury's | spinosad (sum) 0.2 (MRL = 4) |
| 2025-11 | Asda | chlorate 0.1 (MRL = 0.7); spinosad (sum) 1.6 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-11 | Sainsbury's | chlorate 0.01 (MRL = 0.7); fluazifop-p (sum) 0.09 (MRL = 0.02); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.007 (MRL = 0.7) over UK limit |
| 2025-10 | Sainsbury's | spinosad (sum) 4.7 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-10 | Sainsbury's | spinosad (sum) 0.58 (MRL = 4) |
| 2025-06 | Other shops | chlorate 0.4 (MRL = 0.7) |
| 2025-05 | Lidl | none found |
| 2025-04 | Lidl | none found |
| 2025-04 | Tesco | none found |
| 2025-04 | Lidl | chlorate 0.03 (MRL = 0.7) |
| 2025-04 | Co-op | chlorate 0.4 (MRL = 0.7); propamocarb (sum) 0.02 (MRL = 30); pyrethrins 0.02 (MRL = 1); spinosad (sum) 0.02 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-04 | Other shops | chlorate 0.01 (MRL = 0.7); mandipropamid 0.2 (MRL = 25) |
| 2025-04 | Tesco | boscalid 0.1 (MRL = 50); chlorantraniliprole 0.6 (MRL = 20); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.02 (MRL = 0.7); mandipropamid 1.1 (MRL = 25) |
| 2025-04 | Lidl | chlorate 0.04 (MRL = 0.7) |
| 2025-04 | Lidl | none found |
| 2025-03 | Other shops | none found |
| 2025-02 | Asda | chlorate 0.31 (MRL = 0.7) |
| 2025-02 | Other shops | none found |
| 2025-02 | Lidl | none found |
| 2025-02 | Lidl | none found |
| 2025-01 | Morrisons | propamocarb (sum) 1.2 (MRL = 20); mandipropamid 2.3 (MRL = 25); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.01 (MRL = 0.7); difenoconazole 0.01 (MRL = 4); chlorantraniliprole 0.2 (MRL = 20); chlorate 0.2 (MRL = 0.7); boscalid 0.02 (MRL = 50); azoxystrobin 0.01 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-01 | Sainsbury's | chlorate 0.03 (MRL = 0.7); spinosad (sum) 0.2 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-01 | Tesco | propamocarb (sum) 0.04 (MRL = 20); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.01 (MRL = 0.7); difenoconazole 0.01 (MRL = 4); chlorate 0.2 (MRL = 0.7); azoxystrobin 0.04 (MRL = 15) |
| 2025-01 | Tesco | boscalid 0.48 (MRL = 50); chlorantraniliprole 0.08 (MRL = 40); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.049 (MRL = 0.7); mandipropamid 3.8 (MRL = 25) |
| 2025-01 | Tesco | chlorate 0.15 (MRL = 0.7); chlorantraniliprole 0.22 (MRL = 40); lenacil 0.02 (MRL = 0.1*); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.015 (MRL = 0.7); mandipropamid 3.8 (MRL = 25) |
| 2025-01 | Tesco | boscalid 0.069 (MRL = 50); chlorantraniliprole 0.094 (MRL = 40); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.02 (MRL = 0.7); mandipropamid 4.5 (MRL = 25) |
| 2022-11 | Lidl | chlorantraniliprole 0.17 (MRL = 20); spinosad (sum) 1.1 (MRL = 15) |
| 2022-11 | Lidl | chlorantraniliprole 0.17 (MRL = 20); spinosad (sum) 1.1 (MRL = 15) |
| 2022-11 | Tesco | boscalid 0.02 (MRL = 50); chlorantraniliprole 0.6 (MRL = 20); fludioxonil 0.6 (MRL = 20); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.1 (MRL = 0.7); propamocarb (sum) 0.01 (MRL = 20) |
| 2022-11 | Tesco | boscalid 0.02 (MRL = 50); chlorantraniliprole 0.6 (MRL = 20); fludioxonil 0.6 (MRL = 20); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.1 (MRL = 0.7); propamocarb (sum) 0.01 (MRL = 20) |
| 2022-11 | Tesco | chlorantraniliprole 1.1 (MRL = 20); fludioxonil 1.2 (MRL = 20); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.07 (MRL = 0.7); propamocarb (sum) 0.01 (MRL = 20) |
| 2022-11 | Lidl | chlorantraniliprole 0.35 (MRL = 20) |
| 2022-11 | Tesco | chlorantraniliprole 1.1 (MRL = 20); fludioxonil 1.2 (MRL = 20); lambda-cyhalothrin 0.07 (MRL = 0.7); propamocarb (sum) 0.01 (MRL = 20) |
| 2022-11 | Lidl | chlorantraniliprole 0.35 (MRL = 20) |
| 2022-10 | Lidl | none found |
| 2022-10 | Lidl | none found |
Defra's Pesticide Residues in Food programme. UK limits mirror the EU's as retained in 2021 and may since differ. Showing the latest 40 of 53.
Testing a shipment?
The substances listed on this page are the ones that most often break the EU limit on this product from this origin. A lab panel that covers them is the cheapest way to avoid a rejection.
Data
Download every sample behind this page (CSV): series, reporting country, year, month, over the limit, substances. How each sample is classified.