Increase of pyridaben unlikely to harm consumers says EFSA

The European Food Safety Authority has said that a proposed increase of the use of pyridaben on cucurbits – edible peel – is unlikely to pose a consumer health risk.

The organisation said the “submitted supervised residue trials are sufficient to derive a maximum residue level (MRL) proposal of 0.15mg per kg for the proposed use on cucurbits – edible peels​”.

The Netherlands had received an application from Nissan Chemical Europe S.A.R.L. to modify the existing MRL of the substance.

In order to “accommodate for the intended uses of pyridaben​”, the Netherlands proposed to raise the existing MRL from 0.1mg per kg to a MRL of 0.15mg per kg. It drafted an evaluation report, which was submitted it to the European Commission and forwarded to European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), it said.

The EFSA however, added that its assessment was provisional “since the revision of the existing EU MRLs is not yet been finalised​ and might need to be reconsidered in the light of the outcome of this assessment”​.