Italy's fruits and vegetables are the safest in Europe in regards to chemical residues, according to the Coldiretti farmers' union.
In a report based on data from the European Commission, Coldiretti said that compared to Italy, chemical residues in fruits and vegetables were three times as much in Germany, four times in France and Spain and over six times as much in the Netherlands.
Over the past ten years, the report said, the amount of pesticides found in fruits and vegetables has decline by several percentage points while the percentage of fruits and vegetables found to be pesticide free has doubled. Coldiretti noted that the over 50,000 samples of fruits and vegetables from all over Italy are tested every year.
